


Unintended

by Vithraldor (orphan_account)



Category: Muse (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-27
Updated: 2016-09-13
Packaged: 2018-07-18 15:44:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 63,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7321120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Vithraldor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The transition from 'rich kid' to 'average joe' is certainly tough, and Matt Bellamy is determined that this will result in nothing but bad. Throw in a certain over-attached blonde and two particular locals that seem to get on Matt's nerves, and you've got yourself a recipe for disaster.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Butterflies & Hurricanes](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5582035) by [originofabsolution](https://archiveofourown.org/users/originofabsolution/pseuds/originofabsolution). 



> The title will definitely make more sense as the fanfic progresses... this is my first one, so all feedback is highly appreciated!

“Hey Matt, how’d ya do?”

“Come on Matt, spill the beans. What do those results say?”

I stared at the papers in my hand, scanning them over and over. I couldn’t believe it; there was absolutely no way in hell that I achieved these kinds of scores. Not with the amount of revision I did beforehand.

“Matty mate, you’re killing us here,” My friend, Christopher, said, nudging me on the shoulder. “I swear, the only reason why we write GCSEs is to compare our score to yours,” he said, chuckling. “That, and to, you know, keep on going to this school.”

“Very funny,” I replied, rolling my eyes. I continued to read the paper, still trying to make sense of these scores.  _ Well, I know I’ve gotten similar in the past, but these are just beyond me… _

“You are absolutely ridiculous.” Chris chortled, snatching the paper from my hands and holding it high above his head. In a feeble attempt to retrieve my marks, I jumped up and tried to snatch it from him, failing. The larger boy was simply too tall for me to handle.

“Wanker,” I muttered, crossing my arms. The group instantly burst out into a fit of laughter, led by Chris himself. His laughter, however, stopped once he read over my GCSE marks.

_ I was still attempting to process that information, you pillock, _ I thought, a small smile playing its way onto my face.

“Holy shit,” he said, completely boggled. He slowly made his way over to me and clapped me on the shoulder, leaving me wincing in pain.

“Hey, watch it, Wolstenholme,” I called, immediately stepping back. My plea fell on deaf ears; Chris was busy showing the papers to my other mates, leaving all of them with an equally baffled look, which soon turned into wide grins.

I was lucky to have friends that accepted me; the nerdy, academic loving kid that I am seemed to fit right into one of the school’s most popular cliques. Here, at Cambridge Academy, a prestigious boarding school fit for Britain’s richest, academic interest was welcomed - much unlike public schools, where kids couldn’t care less about how many classes they were failing. I personally hated those kinds of people - the ones who laughed at the class overachievers, or the ones who got on the honour roll - those kinds of people were ones that could, well, die in a hole, to be frank.

However, now is not the place to be musing about the people I do and do not like.

“Isn’t it great?” I exclaimed, snatching the paper back and rereading the grades once more. “That’s an incredibly clean score,” I remarked. “Perfect on most of them, but on the GCSEs that weren’t perfect, I dropped one or two marks.”

“Yeah, we know,” Chris said cheerily, peering over my shoulder and getting another look at the paper. After a few seconds of standing in silence and rereading the scores, his breath hitched and he whispered a quiet “oh my god”.

“What?” I asked him, nervous. I fidgeted with my score sheets, putting a few folds in the paper.

“No, no, don’t do that,” Chris said, prying the paper from my hands. He scanned it once again, a determined look on his eyes.

“Look at this,” Chris said in disbelief, handing me the paper and pointing out a certain textbox that I missed. The rest of the group closed in on me, wondering what was going on.

“My GCSE average is in the top 5 percentile of highest GCSE averages?!” I exclaimed, my eyes going wide. “And the best average in the school?!” It took all my might to not jump with joy.

“Not only that, Matt.” Chris said, taking the paper back once more and pointing out yet another textbox. “Look here, that’s an addition made by the Headmaster himself. You’ve got some of the highest scores in the Academy’s history.”

“That’s brilliant!” I cried, doing a little victory dance. I grabbed Chris by the shoulders and smiled once more. “My parents will be  _ so _ surprised to hear that I did better than Paul,” I said, still caught up in my little world of happiness. My parents always thought that my brother, Paul, was always perceived to be the smarter one, the smarter Bellamy. Oh, the look on their faces when I’d tell them about my super-high test scores...

“Yeah, I bet,” Chris replied, rewarding me with another hard clap on the shoulder.

“Oi, Wolstenholme.” I grumbled, rubbing my victimized shoulder. “Watch it. I swear, you’ll break my shoulder one day.

“No matter,” Chris replied, quite cheery. “Want to play some polo to celebrate?”

“Definitely,” I replied, as I started to make my way towards the Academy’s stables and polo field, ready to celebrate with a few games of fierce polo.

* * *

“Ugh, I’m utterly buggered.”

“You can say that again, Matty.”

After several intense (and tiring!) polo games, Chris and I found ourselves lounging in my dorm room, drinking sodas and eating overly greasy pizza. Some music festival broadcast was playing on the telly in the corner, however, I didn’t find myself enjoying it; I saw no point in going to a music festival and getting all muddy and dirty while listening to a band play.

“Crazy folks,” I said in between pizza bites, gesturing at the TV screen. “Why get all sweaty in a crowd when you could listen to music in a room? It’s much cleaner that way,” I yawned, getting up to stretch.

“Maybe you’d like it if you tried it out for yourself,” Chris offered, getting up to throw his soda can away. “We’ll take you to next year’s Reading or Glastonbury, if you’d like.”

“No way,” I grumbled. “I’m not going to that. I’d much rather stay here at the Academy and do some other things.”

“What, like studying for next year’s exams?” Chris chuckled, poking me in the side. I flinched and immediately pushed him away.

“Chris,” I warned, shooting him a death stare.

“Aww, gwumpy Bellamy returns,” he cooed, plopping down next to me on my bed. “Did your happiness from earlier today  _ finally _ wear off?”

Just as I was about to reply, I heard a loud knock on the door, jolting me out of my rather relaxed state.

“Bloody hell,” I cursed. “Sounds like the feds are coming in to arrest us,” I said, walking up to answer the door, expecting another one of our friends to show up and join us in unwinding.

Oh, I was wrong. The scowling face of my older brother met mine, his bright blue eyes creating a gaze that was meant to unnerve other people.

“First off, super sorry for the last minute warning.” He told me, tone hard. “Second of all, pack your bags. We’re leaving.”

I stared at him, dumbfounded. What did he mean by ‘we’re leaving’...?

“No, you are, Paul.” I told him, a look of bewilderment on my face. “You’re the one heading off to the Uni of Oxford, remember? I’m staying here, at the Academy.”

Paul simply shook his head and looked at me once again, his previous sharp look giving way to one of pity.

“No, Matt. You aren’t staying here. Mum and Dad decided to discontinue your enrollment here.”

“Wait, what?!” Were they oblivious to my academic successes? I was doing well here. To put me into another school would surely result in negative consequences.

“Why would they ever do that?” I asked, trying to keep my voice down. “Surely your tuition fees and mine wouldn’t kill them, right?”

Paul threw his hands up in the air, exasperated. “I’ve got no bloody clue. The tuition fees were never a problem…” He paced around my doorway, trying to think of something that would alleviate the tense mood.

“I swear, Paul, if they needed more money to continue prancing around fucking Europe-”

“That’s probably the reasoning behind this,” Paul said, turning to face me once more. His piercing gaze fell upon my look of disbelief.

I just wanted to scream. Yes, my parents felt rather apathetic towards me and my brother - after all, they never seemed to want to see us after the school year was over - but they’d never been  _ this _ careless; they’d never seemed to forget about our strengths and best interests, that is, until today.

“Where will I stay?” I choked, unsure of where to go. I could join my parents in their various expeditions across Europe and the world, but that would mean that I’d have to drop out of school - a rather unpleasant scenario for me to face.

“Apparently Nan has a place down in Teignmouth…” Paul replied, waiting for my reaction.

Teignmouth. Fucking wonderful. I’ve been downgraded to some puny town on the English coast.

“Great,” I groaned, running my hands through my hair, the dread making itself apparent. I turned back to Chris, who was watching the scene unfold, his face with a look that held more surprise than mine.

“Matt’s nan can’t send him here?” he asked, getting up to join me at the door.  
  
“I’m afraid not,” Paul admitted, voice filled with guilt. “She’s not as financially, uh,  _ gifted _ as our parents.” He turned back to me, and delivered the news that I knew was coming, but I dreaded all the same:

“He’ll have to go to a local school.”

I cast my look downwards, feeling the onslaught of tears that were threatening to fall. The amazing classes, the polo games with friends (and enemies), celebrations over test scores, and the post-GCSE thrill - all were memories that I would have to leave behind. Memories that I would never get to live again.

I turned back towards my room, pulling out a few duffel bags and proceeding to throw my belongings in there, not caring about organization whatsoever.

“I presume the Headmaster knows about this?” I asked, voice monotonous.

“Yes.” Paul replied, his tone regaining its firm edge. “He sends his regrets.”

I said nothing to that and continued my unorganized packing, with Chris coming back into the room to help me.

“Well, uh, good luck with that,” Paul called. “I’ve arranged for a few taxis to take us out to our respective places,” he droned on, however, I wasn’t in the mood to listen to the travel plans. “If you could get your packing done within 20 minutes, that’d be great.” He walked into the room and took a look at my packing job. “Though I’m sure you could get this done under 20 minutes.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said, absentminded. “I’ll get this done soon.”

“Great,” Paul said, attempting to sound cheery. His phone soon went off, and I looked up at him, expecting it to be news that would cheer both of us up.

“Hey, Matt.” he said, cracking a slight smile and looking up from his phone. I managed a nod in his direction, still hoping that he was going to tell me some good news. Who knows, maybe this entire ‘you’re not going to be enrolled in the Cambridge Academy anymore’ thing was a farce - maybe it was an incredibly late April Fools joke?

However, my hopes were dashed once again once Paul told me the ‘good news’.

“Nan’s got a neighbour whose about your age. I believe that he’s going to the same school as you are, in Teignmouth, of course.” Paul told me, trying to cheer me up. He handed me his phone and I read the message, my eyes widening with every passing sentence.

“ _ Dearest Paul, please inform Matthew that I’ve already arranged for him to meet the neighbours a few hours after his arrival. They are all nice people and have a son around the same age - fifteen I believe? Anyways, please tell him that he will be in good company once he reaches Teignmouth. He will find it loads better than Cambridge! Nan x” _

_ Find Teignmouth loads better than Cambridge? _ I thought, rolling my eyes at the message’s last sentence. First, I find that I’m being thrown out of school because my parents couldn’t be arsed to pay my tuition, and then I’m already being forced to mingle with people who might not even have the same interests as I do? How does that make the experience better?!

“Leave. I’ll see you out front in a bit.” I told Paul, tossing his phone over to him. I resumed with my packing, still carelessly tossing things into multiple bags, with Chris helping me gather my belongings. The cheery nature of both Paul and my nan annoyed me; they weren’t the ones who were being pulled out of the school they’d attended for practically their whole life. They weren’t the ones that had to leave all their friendships behind.

I finally finished packing and closed my bags, slinging them over my shoulder. I proceeded to walk out of the room, hoping that Chris would be kind enough to follow suit.

“Hey, Matt?”   
  
I whirled around to see Chris, who was holding a guitar case and a small amplifier. My eyes widened at the discovery - I’d nearly forgotten about the instrument! I hadn’t really used it during my time at the Academy; I was too focused on balancing a healthy academic and social life in order to sit down and properly run through a few songs.

“Are you planning on keeping this? Or should I send it to my place to add to my family’s massive guitar collection?” Chris asked, smiling.

“I’ll take that. I might need it in Teignmouth - you know, for a coping mechanism of some sort,” I told him, taking the guitar and amplifier. I cracked a smile at Chris, trying not to seem depressed.

“Hey, perk up, Matty. This isn’t the last time we’ll see each other,” Chris said, approaching me and giving me yet another hard clap on the shoulder. I winced, however, this time around, I didn’t complain - this being the last clap I’d get from him in a while and all that.

“Let’s keep in touch using emails and stuff, yeah?” He said, as I walked out of my room.

“Of course, Chris,” I smiled, turning back to face him once more. I gave him a small wave and made my way out of the dorm, attempting to keep a smile on my face, despite the wave of sadness that washed over me.

* * *

I placed the last of my bags into the trunk and proceeded to take one long last look at the school that had served as my home throughout the majority of my life.

“Are you good to go, Matt?” Paul asked, approaching me from the behind. He placed his hand on my shoulder. “Teignmouth might not be as good as Cambridge, but that doesn’t mean the experiences there can’t be pleasant.”

I slowly nodded, and turned to face Paul, my eyes swimming with tears. Frustrated, I rubbed my eyes hard. The last thing I wanted to do was look like an emotional wreck as I drove away from the Academy.

Noticing my depressed mood, Paul pulled me into a hug, rubbing my back in the attempts to console me, offering words of encouragement and hope

“I’ll be seeing you, little brother,” he said, as he broke away from the hug. “Try not to kill anyone with your smarts, down in Teignmouth.” he added with a wink.

“Same for you, Paul. Don’t be putting Oxford professors out of a job,” I said, as he turned to hop into his taxi - the taxi that would whisk him off to the top university in England.

I turned to the taxi - my portal to British hell - where my driver stood, waiting expectantly.

“Are you ready to leave, Mr. Bellamy?” He asked, not unkindly.

I nodded and hopped inside the taxi, with the driver soon getting into the driver’s seat and turning on the ignition.

As the taxi pulled away from the sprawling Academy grounds, I found myself whacked with a wave of anger. How could my parents, who never bothered to get involved in my life, just suddenly step in and throw me out of a school in order to get more pocket money? If anything, this situation did nothing but help me nurture my hatred for the two.

They took my friends and the Academy environment away from me, instead opting to force me into a lonely seaside town, forcing me to live with no company aside from my nan (and maybe that neighbour that she mentioned, but for all I know, he could be some stupid idiot who does nothing but get blackout drunk).

I was going to be miserable in Teignmouth. Absolutely nothing, or rather,  _ no one _ , can change that. 


	2. Chapter 2

“We’re nearing Teignmouth, Mr. Bellamy.” The driver’s announcement yanked me out of a nap, induced by the anxiety of adjusting to a town that was so unlike Cambridge.

Yawning and rubbing my eyes, I looked out the window; my eyes were greeted by the sight of endless stretches of countryside, with the occasional house planted in the middle of nowhere. The emptiness and the isolation was quite unlike the populated, yet calm atmosphere of Cambridge, an atmosphere that I found myself already longing for.

“So this is Devon, huh?” I asked, my question directed to no one in particular. If Teignmouth was this lonely, I’d definitely feel depressed within the first week of my move.

“Yes, however Teignmouth is more densely populated than this rural area,” the driver replied, looking at me from the rearview mirror. “You’ll see in a bit,” he reassured, turning his gaze back onto the road. “We’ll be there in about fifteen minutes.”

I examined the passing landscape once again, not entirely convinced by the newly presented fact. The sprawling countryside did not give way to houses, as the driver said, dampening my mood once more. I found myself slouching in my seat, attempting to take yet another anxiety-induced map, now with another thought in my mind - _where would I ever find another human being in this desolate field of grass?_

As I was about to drift off, another one of the driver’s announcements pulled me out of my (almost) state of slumber.

“Mr. Bellamy, we’ve arrived in Teignmouth. Your nan’s house is by the seaside - we’ll arrive there soon.”

I sat up in my seat and took another look out the window. This time, I was (admittedly) a bit pleased with what I saw.

Like the driver said, the previously seen emptiness of the Devon fields gave way to a small town, littered with small houses and the occasional shop, with a few people taking a stroll on the sidewalks. The town had a very cozy atmosphere to it, which made me feel a bit better about the mood… nothing’s better than moving to a town with nice people, right?

My positive thoughts were quickly squashed when I caught eye of a few passerby stopping and staring at my taxi, probably wondering who the newcomer was. A few groups of people were jolted out of their conversation and stared at the foreign car passing through their streets, whispering things and pointing fingers at the window. _My_ window, where my apathetic face was staring at the passing buildings in hidden wonder.

I sighed in frustration, immediately realizing that the people of this town knew each other quite well, and were quite friendly with each other. This would mean that I’d never be fully accepted in Teignmouth, and that my social life would turn out to be minimal, if non-existent. I hadn’t even been in this town for a day, yet the locals were already starting to bother me.

_Oh boy, if my Nan’s anything like them… I’ll have a meltdown._

The car turned off onto the main road and we travelled across a couple of side streets, with the view of the ocean available for me to look at. I scanned the landscape with wide eyes, definitely enjoying what I saw - there was a boardwalk that bordered the beach, along with a couple of them extending out to the sea. The area wasn’t too overcrowded, like one would expect in a place like this; there were a handful of tourists taking a stroll through the area, taking pictures at certain intervals.

Tourists were not the only people to be seen here, though. A small group of teenagers, who looked to be the same age as me, caught my eye. They were hanging out near the boardwalk, performing a variety of skateboard tricks on the curb, chatting with one another, and just having a good time in general.

The sight of my taxi must’ve captured their attention, too. A member of the group turned to the group of friends and pointed out my taxi, and the group, like a stunned parliament of owls, slowly turned to face me, staring at me as the taxi stopped at a red light.

 _Great, I’m already attracting attention,_ I thought, continuing to stare at the group, hoping that my gaze would prompt them to return to their business. While most decided that staring at the taxi and the new kid wasn’t worth their time, a pair of eyes remained: the restless grey eyes, belonging to a fairly built blonde. I felt his gaze on me, the look on his face filled with confusion and… was that pity?

Raising an eyebrow, I stared back at him, unsure of what to do. Do I unroll the window and start talking to him, or do I just turn away awkwardly, pretending that nothing had happened?

Before I could react, one of the blonde’s friends tapped on his shoulder and said something to him, forcing the blonde to return his attention to his group of friends. The group was socializing once again, with hoots of laughter making their occasional appearance. The interaction reminded me of my relationship with Chris and the rest of my Academy friends - stabbing me with a sharp feeling of loneliness.

The car made another turn once again, and we made our way into a residential area. We came to a stop in a cul-de-sac, in front of a small house (which looked to be a one-and-a-half-storey, if my architectural prowess was to be believed).

“We’re here,” the driver announced, turning back to smile at me. He got out of the car and opened my door; I stepped out of the car and gingerly scanned my surroundings. It was quite unlike the rich neighbourhoods down in Cambridge. All houses were of similar size, if not smaller - _well, I won’t find any of my financially ‘blessed’ brethren in this part of England,_ I sighed, making my way over to the taxi’s trunk to gather my belongings, all while surveying the neighbourhood.

The house that was in front of me looked quite over-decorated and gave off the impression that someone had spent a little too much time and money at the garden centre. Numerous potted and hanging plants, of various plant species, adorned the front porch, and several different flowers were growing in the front yard; however, the houses surrounding it weren’t as extravagantly decorated, making the decorated house stick out like a sore thumb.

“So, this is your nan’s home,” the driver told me, handing me my duffel bags and my guitar/amp combo. “How do you like it?”

“To be fairly honest, it looks too positive,” I grumbled, not wanting to sugarcoat my opinion. “The exterior decorating is too overdone. It looks like a plant convention of some sort.”

Before the driver could respond, I heard the sound of a front door swing open. Turning my gaze to the source of the noise, I caught eye of a small, skinny woman scurrying towards me, wearing an apron with tied-back hair.

“Matthew? It’s been so long since I’d last seen you!” the woman, who I could only assume was my nan, cried as she wrapped me with her frail arms, which had a surprisingly strong grip.

“The feeling is rather mutual,” I said awkwardly, freeing myself from her iron grip. I shuffled away from her awkwardly, unsure of what to say next.

“Thank you for driving Matthew over. Your service is much appreciated,” Nan said, approaching the driver and handing him a wad of cash. “I apologize for the hassle that this long trip might have caused,” she said, smiling apologetically. “I would have him come over by train, but Matthew’s upbringing has caused him to-”

“I’ll go inside,” I interrupted, before Nan could bring up my privileged and (no doubt) elitist mindset. I picked up my bags and hastily made my way into the house, muttering a stiff ‘thanks’ to the driver as I went.

The house interior wasn’t too different from its exterior; there seemed to be at least one plant that inhabited every corner in the home, and walls were littered with pictures of family members. I noticed an old picture of my father, who looked to be about 3, playing with various toys on a kitchen floor. Next to the picture were several other photos of my father’s growth throughout the years, which eventually culminated in a family photo - I immediately recognized it as one our family had took the previous Christmas. It was a stereotypical family photo, with all members wearing santa hats, and was completed with forced smiles and the cheesy flavour text: _Season’s Greetings from the Bellamys._

Not wanting to look at the photo any longer, I decided to venture further into the house. In the house’s living room, I found more photographs of Paul and I as we grew up, which were nothing but painful to look at ( _wow, Matt, you used to look cute, what happened?)_ and a few more family souvenirs that Nan had collected throughout the years.

“I see that you’re already starting to get comfortable,” I heard Nan say.

I turned around and turned to see her locking the front door and taking off her shoes, placing them on a nearby mat. She walked towards me, smiling, and bid I sit down on the couch.

“You and your brother grew up here before you were sent to Cambridge,” she explained, her voice taking on a nostalgic tone. “You probably don’t remember much about your stay here, but I still remember how both of you would fight over the same toys, or chase each other around the house…” She chuckled and turned to me. “I’d bake you two cookies and take you both to the pier, when your parents weren’t around. Which, as you know, was quite often.” She smiled apologetically, and I felt anger hit me like a truck.

 _“When your parents weren’t around. Which, as you know, was quite often_ .” _I don’t see them much, yet they still somehow have complete control over my life_.

Noticing the change in my mood, Nan stood up and cleared her throat.

“I imagine you’re tired after such a long journey, and I’m probably making you feel even more tired with this talk,” she apologized, beckoning me to follow her. “I’ll show you to your room. I’ve done a little redecorating before your arrival, but if you want anything extra, tell me and we’ll go shopping this weekend,” she said, as she was leading me up the stairs.

_"Before my arrival". Why am I the only one to get notified last minute about this change?_

We came to a stop at the top of the staircase, as Nan pushed open a door, signalling me to come in. Before stepping in, I took a look at the location - the bathroom was across the hall, with the stairs right next to the room. _Good for sneaking out,_ I remarked, slightly pleased with the observation.

My newly decorated room was of a fair size, with a double-sized bed pushed to the corner and a wardrobe across from it. A nightstand was next to the bed, complete with a lamp and an alarm clock. _Bigger than my school dorm, that’s a plus,_ I mused, setting my bags down in one corner and searching for an outlet that would supply my amplifier with power.

“I hope the decoration is okay,” Nan said, watching me as I organized my stuff. The statement prompted me to temporarily abandon my unpacking efforts and look around the room. The room was a calming shade of blue, and the walls, unlike the rest of the house, were not littered with photos of my past self, or any other decorations, for that matter. A poster of some music festival hung on one wall, and another wall bore another clock and a calendar.

“It’s fine, thank you,” I responded, thankful that she didn’t go all-out with her decorating efforts.

“I’m glad you like it,” Nan replied, her voice showing hints of relief. “Paul told me that you weren’t too big on decoration, so I didn’t treat your room like the rest of the house.” She sat on my bed, as I resumed unpacking.

“Paul was right,” I chuckled, as I pulled my clothes out of my bag and proceeded to stuff them in the provided wardrobe. “My dorm room at the Academy wasn’t really decorated, too.”

“I hope you don’t mind the plans I have for tonight,” Nan said, folding her hands on her lap.

“What plans?” I asked her, immediately turning back from my unpacking to look at her. _Why does no one ever tell me about anything until the last minute?_

“We’re due for dinner at the Howards’ in an hour’s time,” she simply explained, a bit surprised that no one else informed me of this.

“The Howards? Who?” I asked, incredulous. My mood was rapidly declining, and I was starting to see red. I swear, if they were the ones who had the son that Nan mentioned in her texts…

“Our next door neighbours, Matthew.” She said, tone soft. “They’ve a son about your age, he’s a real sweet boy. I’ve told Paul about them at noon, before you left Cambridge…”

_Ah, fuck. I haven’t even spent a day here, and I’m already being forced to socialize with the neighbours._

“That’s… wonderful.” I forced out, plastering an exaggerated smile onto my face.

“It really is,” Nan said, eyes practically glowing. “You’ll get to make your first friend tonight, Matthew. Your first friend in Teignmouth! Isn’t that exciting?” she asked, making her way out of the room.

“Y-Yeah, sure.” I replied, my chest tightening.

“Please get dressed and make yourself look presentable,” she called from an adjacent room. “Though, I don’t believe that’ll be too much of a hassle, for someone like you…” she added, with a slight chuckle at the end.

Oh, yeah. It _totally_ won’t be a hassle for me to head out and meet the neighbours, who probably won’t get along with me and my personality… it was going to be a fun night.

* * *

“Matthew, I understand you’re a bit miffed with the last-minute dinner plans, but please, give the Howards a chance. They truly are nice people,” Nan told me, as she rang the Howards’ doorbell. I only managed a small ‘mhm’ in response to that, my gaze shooting from the front door, to the casserole dish I was holding, over to the left, to Nan’s place with the ridiculous decorating job.

I heard the sound of the door unlocking, and was immediately greeted by the sight of a blonde boy, peering at Nan and I with curious grey eyes. My eyes widened (and I swore his did too) as I immediately recognized him as the guy that stared at my taxi earlier today.

“Alice,” the blonde stammered. “Good evening. It’s nice to see you once again,” he said, though his gaze was still trained on me. _Well, blondie, I hope you like what you see_.

“It’s nice to see you too, Dominic,” Nan replied, smiling.

_Ah… so his name’s Dominic..._

“Please, come in,” ‘Dominic’ beckoned, gesturing him for us to come inside. As I was removing my shoes, leaving Nan to present the casserole dish to the Howards’, I heard him speak his first words to me.

“Uh, you look nice,” he offered. I turned around to see him staring at me once again, and I felt myself go pink.

Well, all in fairness, I did try to make myself look as sophisticated as possible, putting on a pair of my finest dress pants, shoes, and shirt, with my favourite navy blue tie to top it all off. I’d wanted to show up in a blazer as well, however Nan had caught me putting it on and immediately told me that “we were going to a  neighbour’s for dinner, not the Queen’s birthday reception”. Hey, I dress to impress - and after all, I hadn’t chosen to wear my Italian suit to this occasion, so it wasn’t _too_ fancy.

“Thanks.” I responded curtly, immediately making my way over to the kitchen, where I was greeted with the sight of Nan socializing with Dominic’s parents, who were busy making final preparations for the dinner. I quickly scanned over what they were wearing; Dominic’s mother was wearing some cheap cocktail dressed, while his father was dressed in an equally cheap dress shirt, coupled with faded jeans. I looked back to see Dominic trailing behind me, who was dressed in a black shirt, black jeans, and a white tie. _Not entirely used to seeing a kid dress better than his parents,_ I mused, frowning.

“So, this is Matthew, I take it?” Dominic’s mother asked, immediately approaching me. “Wow, what a handsome boy! Quite nicely dressed, too!”

“Yeah, I’m Matthew,” I responded, ignoring the compliment and keeping my responses cool and short. “Though most call me Matt.”

“Hm, you go by a nickname too?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. I nodded, and she walked over to Dominic and ruffled his shaggy hair, much to his unamusement.

“So does our Dominic,” she explained, smiling. I cringed, feeling slightly awkward about the entire mother-son love situation that was unfolding in front of me. Dominic noticed my shift in demeanor, and quickly whispered something to his mum, which caused her to back away and continue prepping tonight’s dinner.

“I take it that you’re going to Teignmouth’s Community College?” I turned, and saw Dominic’s dad looking at me with an unreadable look.

Unsure of what to say, I turned to Nan, hoping for some form of aid on this matter.

“Yes, he is,” Nan replied, cheerily. “He’s starting this September, in a few weeks.” I noticed that the looks of both Howard parents lit up, as they turned to look at their son. A quick glance in his direction, and I saw that his eyes had perked up at the news, as his cheeks were coloured by a slight blush.

 _Appears that we both learned something new about me today,_ I thought, not liking where this was heading. _And as for Dominic; he’s blushing like a maid. What’s up with that?_

Before anyone could say anything else, Mrs. Howard declared that supper was ready, and bid that everyone sit around the table. Of course, Dominic had to sit next to me; we’ve known each other for less than an hour and he’s already trying to kiss up to me. That would _definitely_ explain the blushing and nervousness. Typical. Most people who are aware of my ‘rich kid’ status do just that, so I was somewhat used to it.

Dinner was ruled by silence, as most were too busy digging into Nan’s casserole and Mrs. Howard’s dish - a nice roasted chicken with potatoes on the side. The food was definitely good; it was definitely a step up from the Academy’s cafeteria food. _Then again, isn’t_ everything _a step up from cafeteria food?_

“So, Matthew,” Mr. Howard proposed, clearing his throat. “What brings the likes of you to the seaside paradise of Teignmouth?” he asked, dabbing at his mouth with a napkin.

_Ha! Seaside paradise? If only he knew my opinion on the place…_

I shot a sideways glance to Nan, who quickly gave me a look that screamed ‘be polite’. Wiping my mouth clean, careful not to get any food on my clothes, I answered the question, cutting straight to the point.

“My parents needed more money to continue their daily voyages around Europe,” I explained, trying my best not to seem nonchalant, despite my anger towards the entire matter. “With my older brother heading off to Oxford and me staying in school, I guess they didn’t want to bother paying tuition for the both of us. So naturally, the black sheep of the family bore the brunt of my parents’ greed,” I finished, sitting back in my chair. I looked at Nan, and she looked around the table with sad eyes, not denying what I just told the Howards.

 _My guess was right, after all_.

The Howards looked at each other with faces of shock, my parents’ apathetic approach to parenting clearly contrary to their peace/love/unity/respect approach. I cast a look a Dominic, praying that he wasn’t staring at me in awe; thankfully, he was staring down at his lap, twiddling his thumbs.

“Um, tuition?” Mr. Howard asked once again.

“Uh, yeah,” I said, a flash of annoyance evident in my voice. “I go, or rather, _went_ , to Cambridge Academy.” My answer earned me yet another glare from Nan.

“The Academy,” Dominic breathed, voice filled with awe. He stared at me, his wonderstruck look causing me to roll my eyes. “How was it like?”

“Simple. Better than any school in Teignmouth will ever be,” I snorted, rolling my eyes once more.

“Matthew!” Nan cried in shock. She shook her head and turned to face the Howards. “Please forgive him, he’s a bit angry over the entire ordeal.” A small smirk appeared on my face. _A bit angry is a bit of an understatement_.

“It’s alright, it must be hard to go through such a change,” Mrs. Howard said, an understanding look on her face. She looked at Dominic, who was busy staring at his lap once again. _Satisfied with your answer, Blondie?_

“How’d you do there?” Mrs. Howard asked. I immediately dropped my fork and stared at her in shock, mouth open wide. A small glance to my left confirmed that Dominic was staring at me, gaze intense.

“D-Did I say something wrong?” she asked, genuinely guilty. I quickly shook my head, trying to keep out memories of the celebration that happened earlier - Chris clapping me harder than ever, the celebratory polo game, the chilling in my dorm room afterwards, Paul delivering the bad news…

“Matthew?” I turned to see Nan staring at me, eyes filled with concern. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I responded, gritting my teeth. I balled my free hand into a fist, and stared at it. “You know, just remembering what happened before I was torn out of the Academy.”

“Care to elaborate? What does that have to do with anything?” I turned to see Dominic looking at me again, the stupid curious look on his face making itself known once again.

“Oh, shut the fuck up, dumbass,” I snarled, prompting the entire table to gasp in surprise, followed by the Nan’s scolding. I quickly stood up, causing the table and its silverware to rattle.

I put up my hand, not wanted to be interrupted.

“Let me speak,” I said, my voice clearly indicating that I was not going to tolerate. “Rich people can swear too. We’re not all posh and in the mood for a stupid tea party.”

I looked around and saw that the Howards were staring at me in confusion, with a little bit of pity mixed in their facial expressions.

“You know, just this morning, I was celebrating my greatest achievement with my friends,” I said, my voice rising. “Highest GCSE scores in the school’s history, one of the best in England, that kind of thing… all was well! I had _friends_ -” I said, glaring at Dominic, “-who celebrated with me and didn’t treat me like I was some sort of _god_ that blessed them with their presence!”

The mention of my high test scores made the table gasp once again, followed by some clapping coming from none other than Dominic Howard himself. I sighed in frustration; my main point was _ignored._

“You really are stupid, are you?” I scowled, directing my attention to Dominic. “All this sucking up isn’t going to get you anywhere in life, especially with _me,_ ” I told him, pointing at myself.

“Matthew, stop it, _now_.” Nan told me, her voice gaining a dangerous edge. I couldn’t stop. I was on a roll.

“No,” I said, clearly not done with my little rant. I faced Dominic once more, rage evident in my eyes.

“If you think that _anything_ is going to happen between us, you’re wrong,” I growled. “In case you’ve missed my point, I’ll restate it again; I don’t want to befriend you, especially if you keep on eyeing me like I’m the Golden Fleece. Got it? I’m. Not. Interested.”

Nothing pleased me more than seeing the look on the blonde fucker’s face deflate with sadness. I found myself smiling at the sight, but the look on everyone else’s faces quickly brought myself crashing down to earth. Dominic’s parents looked absolutely horrified with my little rant, while Nan was trying her best not to strangle me right then and there.

_Of fucking course, they’re staring at you. You’ve gone and trashed Dominic in front of his parents! Way to make a good impression, Matt._

My eyes widened as I came down from my meltdown, as the words replayed themselves over and over in my head, with me regretting my little rant with every passing second, despite the truth to my words.

_So much for fitting into the Teignmouth community._

“Thank you for the dinner,” I said awkwardly, as I quickly left the Howards’ home, slipping my shoes on and practically sprinting back to Nan’s place.

Once inside, I headed straight for my room and slammed the door shut, not bothering to remove my shoes at the front door. Immediately after, I kicked off my dress shoes and flopped onto my bed, pulled the covers over me, and attempted to sleep, not wanting to deal with Nan’s fury once she got back from the ‘dinner party’.

There was no doubt that word about the new kid’s meltdown would get around Teignmouth, and soon I’d be the town’s laughingstock. I’d gone and effectively ruined my chances of ever being accepted in the town, all because of what? Because I couldn’t handle some ‘acquaintance’ staring at me every five seconds?

Whatever the reason, it was incredibly stupid on my part. And I hated myself for it. I had no right to go and make Dominic feel like crap, when his family had so kindly invited Nan and her mysterious grandson over for supper.

Despite my extremely anxious and guilty state, I found myself quickly become victim to the power of sleep. However, about an hour after I stormed through the front door, I heard the door to my bedroom open rather softly, which was followed by the sound of Nan’s soft footsteps; this disturbance was enough to arouse me from my slumber.

“Matthew,” she whispered, knowing that I was somewhat awake. “It’s alright. The Howards understand.” Choosing not to reply, I turned over so that I wasn’t facing Nan.

“‘m sure they don’t,” I grunted, my voice sounding a bit gruffy.

“Yes they do, Matthew. I’ve apologized on your behalf and the Howards took it in stride, however I do believe that a proper apology to poor Dominic is expected from you,” she told me, before leaving my room and closing the door.

 _A proper apology to poor Dominic is expected from you_.

Sure, it is, but the question is, will he accept it? I’ve seen the guy’s friend group; it’s stocked full with people who probably would beat me without hesitation, if Dominic tells them about my rant at his dinner table. So, I either have a beating coming my way or another set of not-so-subtle glances being thrown in my general direction.

Which one will it be? I guess I’ll have to wait and find out.


	3. Chapter 3

The last few weeks of summer break were spent in isolation. I’d opted to spend my time in my room, fiddling around with my guitar and talking to Chris online; I didn’t want to head out and face the Howards, not after what I said to Dominic during their dinner party.

Nan, being the concerned grandmother that she is, attempted to turn me into a ‘social butterfly’ by telling me to go out and meet the local teenagers, telling me that I would “benefit from the exposure to the locals”. Not wanting to get her worked up once again, I left the house, however I didn’t go forth and meet new people; instead, I opted to take long, solitary walks along the coast, in an attempt to wind down and clear my mind.

I hadn’t told Nan that I was still being an antisocial person, that is, until the first day of school.

“Matthew, do you have any friends that are willing to accompany you to school today?”

I looked up from my piece of toast, and saw that Nan was standing in front of the dining table, holding a pile of neatly folded uniform garments.

“No,” I stated, continuing to eat my toast. “I don’t. And to be frank, I like it that way.”

“Oh,” Nan said, rather disappointed. She set the pile of uniform on the chair next to me, and continued to watch me eat. “Do you know anyone here other than Dominic?”

“No,” I repeated, still continuing to eat my toast. “Again, I like it that way.”

Nan gave a big sigh and tapped her foot on the ground - a physical tic of hers that is quite noticeable, especially when she’s either upset or annoyed with me. I eyed her carefully, expecting another lecture about meeting new people, or another long-winded complaint about my reluctance to socialize.

“What are we ever going to do with you?” she sighed, giving up on reprimanding me about my disobedience.

I shrugged in response to that, while finishing the last bits of my toast, ready to excuse myself from the table. I wasn’t in the mood to hear yet another lecture from Nan.

“Matthew,” she started. “I’ll be completely frank with you; I don’t enjoy the turn your life is taking. Since your arrival, all you’ve done was stay in your room, doing God knows what,” she said, rather exasperated, throwing her arms up in the air.  
  
“Hey, I got my arse out of the house when you told me to,” I snapped, immediately jumping on the defensive. “Don’t you _dare_ tell me that I’ve been stuck in my room since I got here, ‘cause I haven’t been.” I stared at Nan, expecting her to immediately shut up once she heard my response.

Contrary to my hopes and thoughts, Nan did not back down and let me have my way, instead opting to yell back at me.

“That is absolutely _no_ way to talk to your nan, Matthew James Bellamy!” she screamed. I flinched at the use of my full name; it was _never_ brought up in conversation between Nan and I, even when she was displeased with my demeanour. Today, however, was clearly an exception - _she really is fed up today_ , I thought, my eyes widening with surprise.

“Your point?” I asked, regaining my composure and rolling my eyes, prompting Nan to give a frustrated sigh.

“My point _is,_ ” Nan replied, her voice taking on a more relaxed tone. “All of this isolation won’t do anything good for you, especially if you’re worried about fitting in here. I’m truly worried about you, Matthew; hence why I bug you so much about making friends.” I gulped and stared back at her in shock, her newly-revealed concern taking me by surprise.

“Oh, uh, okay,” I responded, scratching the back of my head. “In that case, I-I’m sorry about yelling at you a bit earlier, Nan.”

A temporary silence washed over us, as Nan paced around the kitchen, leaving me to finish the rest of my tea in peace. I watched her in silence, silently thanking her for her previous statement; I’d never have my parents explicitly tell me that they were concerned about my wellbeing, with them being caught up in their own little world, too busy to remind their sons about parents’ love and other stuff like that.

“Matthew,” Nan called, as I got up to place my dirty dishes in the kitchen sink. I looked at her and raised an eyebrow in question, unsure of what she was going to say next.  
  
“I’m going to give the Howards a ring and ask them if Dominic’s willing to accompany you to school,” she explained, picking up her mobile. A feeling of guilt hit me quite hard; I hadn’t apologized to the blonde yet, despite the recurring thoughts of what happened at his place on the night of my arrival.

“Please, don’t,” I pleaded. Dominic was probably the last person I wanted to see, and he probably felt the same way towards me. “Can’t I just walk alone? I’ll be completely fine with that.”

“Can you walk to a school you’ve never seen before?” Nan challenged, causing me to shrink in defeat. She had a point; I’d never been to the Community College, and no one ever informed me of where it was.

“Give me the address, and I can,” I replied, trying to keep my anger under control. “I don’t need an escort.”

“I _really_ don’t want to argue about this,” Nan said, her voice firm. “You’re heading to school with Dominic, whether you like it or not. Don’t forget to get dressed as well,” she said, glaring at me one final time before heading in the other room to phone the Howard household.

Unable to argue, I picked up the pile of uniform and headed straight to my room to change, hoping that the community college colours didn’t make me look like a complete twat. Once done, I went straight to the bathroom and examined my appearance in the mirror.

The uniform wasn’t as elegant as I had hoped (then again, Teignmouth Community College wasn’t exactly a prestigious academy). The Academy’s embroidered navy blue blazer, coupled with a navy tie and black dress pants - a uniform that I was proud to wear - was replaced with the horrendous uniform of the Community College. The white shirt was doable - hell, I’ve worn plenty of those back at the Academy - but the itchy-looking dark green jumper and charcoal grey pants were absolutely horrid. The combination of ugly colours created a uniform that I was loath to wear and get used to.

_What will my mates say if they see me wearing a uniform that belongs to plebeians? They’d probably laugh and deny that I ever went to the Academy, that’s for sure. A rich kid wearing a poor man’s uniform would, without a doubt, place him at the bottom of the social hierarchy._

My brooding was cut off by the sound of the doorbell; I groaned, knowing that the sound signalled the arrival of Dominic. I could just open the door, only to slam it in his face… but such a deed would probably send Nan into hysterics. Not wanting to displease her for the third time today (and think of another stupid apology, when I hadn’t even given him the first one), I hastily made my way out of the bathroom, grabbed my bookbag, and made my way over to the door, putting on my shoes before opening it.

“Hey,” Dominic said sheepishly, once I had opened the door and greeted him with my scowling expression.

Not bothering to properly greet him, I grabbed my bookbag, yelled a quick goodbye to Nan, and walked out the door, locking it before heading out into the cul-de-sac, expecting Dominic to follow me. A quick glance behind me confirmed that Dominic _was not_ following me, instead opting to stand still on Nan’s front porch, staring at me with an unreadable look.

“What’re you standing there for, don’t we have classes to get to?” I called, rolling my eyes. Dominic jogged his way over to where I was standing, muttering a slew of choppy apologies; clearly he wasn’t expecting me to act all angry and such.  
  
“So, are you going to lead, or not?” I asked once again, trying to prevent my voice from taking on a condescending tone. I stared at him with an earnest look, tapping my foot.

“Y-Yeah. F-Follow me.” Dominic stuttered, as he started to make his way out of the neighbourhood. I followed suit, keeping the same pace as him - I’d hate to trail behind Dominic, mainly because that’d unnerve the poor guy even more.

We walked in complete silence, with Dominic choosing to let me take in the sights of a regular morning in Teignmouth. We walked along roads that I haven’t explored during my seaside strolls, and passed shops that I haven’t seen during my taxi ride; I caught sight of a small music shop, which had a few guitars and vinyls on display in the front window - it was definitely a place I’d have to check out during my spare time.  
  
“You’re interested in music?” Dominic asked, noticing my particular interest in the small shop. I diverted my attention from the shop and looked at him, his features looking quite tense. Clearly he’d worked up a lot of courage to ask me such a simple question.

“Yeah,” I said, trying not to act _too_ much like an arse, after the verbal beating I’d granted him during our first interactions. “Kinda detracts from the entire ‘entitled’ persona I was playing earlier, but yeah, I do have a particular interest in music.”

Dominic nodded in understanding, his body relaxing a bit and a wave of relief washing over his face.

“Wow, I wasn’t expecting that from you. That’s pretty cool,” he said, a smile instantly appearing on his face. “Do you play any instruments?”

I returned the smile, sort of glad that the both of us were somewhat comfortable with each other after the dinner party.  
  
“I’m not all academics and anger,” I chuckled, eager to continue the conversation. “And yeah, I play the guitar. I’m not very good at it, but I’ve devoted the majority of my time to playing and improving.” I added a hint of pride to my answer - hey, to be fair, I wanted people to know about my achievements.

“Dude, that’s so cool,” Dominic gushed, his face immediately lighting up with awe. I raised an eyebrow at his response, wondering whether he was genuinely interested in my hobbies, or if he was just trying to suck up to me (once again).

Noticing my change in expression, Dominic quickly shook his head, his expression returning to its former state of blankness.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, blushing; his nervousness from earlier had returned once again. “I-I’m not trying to, uh, suck your dick or anything, it’s just that…” he shook his head once again and quickened the walking pace.

“It’s just what?” I inquired, jogging to catch up to him. I felt my temper rising once again, but forced myself to calm down.

“I’m a drummer,” Dominic admitted. “And I’ve been wanting to form a band for a while. I would’ve shown you my kit after we ate dinner, but things didn’t necessarily go as planned...”

I sighed, immediately deciphering the hidden meaning behind his statement.

“To be frank, I’m not interested,” I stated, rather flatly. “I’m sure some of your friends’ll be more than happy to start a band with you.”

“None of them need a drummer.” Dominic stated, voice laced with a hint of sadness. “Rather than force drummers out of their own respective bands, I chose to start my own. As you can see, that’s going incredibly well so far…”

Instead of replying to Dominic’s reworded proposal, I focused on our walk, not wanting to dwell on Dominic’s band issue any further. _Hope the kid finds a guitarist soon, so he won’t pester me about his dilemma any longer._

Ten minutes later, we reached the school building and stopped in front of the main doors, with Dominic letting me examine the school.

The Teignmouth Community College was more modern-looking than the Academy, which, to be honest, didn’t really appease me - I preferred looking at older architecture, admiring all the textures that it had to offer. Modern buildings, in my opinion, were quite boring - every building seemed too square, rectangular, and ‘glass-y’, which is pretty much what the school looked like.

However, what set the Community College apart from the rest of standard stereotypical modern buildings was a giant metallic sign at the front, which bore the school’s name next to their logo (which, might I add, looked quite basic - the initials ‘TCC’ layered on top of each other didn’t really make for an outstanding logo).

“So, what exactly am I supposed to do?” I asked Dominic, who, thankfully, had chosen to stay behind with me and watch me judge his (well, ‘our’, I suppose) school.

“There’s a place inside where you can pick up your class list and schedule,” Dominic explained, beckoning me to follow him. “After that, I suppose you can find your classes on your own,” he added, rather sheepishly. “Unless you want me to help you out.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said, brushing off the offer. “I’ll be seeing you later, Dominic.” I started to walk away from the blonde, taking my time to explore the halls of this inferior school, hoping that a new face wouldn’t catch the attention of other students. Thankfully, the school wasn’t too crowded, with it being in a small town and all; that being said, everyone was quite comfortable with each other, and there wasn’t a single damn soul in this school who looked out of place, except for me.

 _This better get off to a good start,_ I thought, a determined look on my face. _The last thing I want is to get shunned because I wasn’t born in Teignmouth._

* * *

After my coveted timetable was obtained (and a fair amount of wandering around the building), I found myself standing outside of my first class, English - a class filled with rowdy students sharing jokes and stories about their summer breaks. I immediately walked in and took a seat - a seat shoved in the back corner of the room, a good distance away from the rest of the kids. I’d hoped that my entry would go unnoticed, but upon the entry of an unrecognizable face, the room quickly went silent.

“Who’s the new kid?” someone shouted. I turned to the source of the question, and caught eye of a medium sized brunette stand, who appeared to be standing next to… was that Dominic?!

“The new kid happens to be a guy named Matt Bellamy,” I responded, my voice devoid of the hellfire that I usually showed whilst speaking. The brunette immediately made his way over to me, a small smirk playing upon his face. I felt the judging gaze of rest of the class, who was, without a doubt, trying to make sense of my character.

“Matt Bellamy, huh?” The brunette asked, sitting on a nearby desk. “What brings a fellow like you to the seaside paradise of Teignmouth?” He inquired, his tone sly.

_Again with the seaside paradise analogy… the locals here must be delusional._

“What’s it to you?” I asked, my tone rising. “What are you, the police chief?” I glared at him, hoping that it would dissuade him from interrogating me.

“Look here, boys, we’ve got a firecracker on our hands!” the brunette chuckled, evoking laughter from the rest of the class.

“Let me ask you again, _Matt_ ,” he started, his voice taking on a darker tone. “Why are you here?”

I immediately stood up, not tolerating the guy’s bullshit. “‘Cause I was forced to come to this ‘seaside paradise’, you fucking dimwit,” I spat back. “I hate my presence here as much as you do.” My response elicited a gasp from the class, immediately followed by hushed discussion; clearly, they hadn’t been expecting a response of this caliber. _Well, I definitely hope that they’re all fully aware of who they’re messing with._

“‘Fucking dimwit’?!” The brunette hooted, slapping his knee as he laughed at my choice of insult. “I’ll have you know, _Matt_ ,” he started, glowering. “I’ve got the highest test scores in all of Teignmouth. You’re no match for me.” A large grin appeared on his face, as the room came alive with applause, cheers, and variations of ‘yeah Tom, go show the new kid who’s boss’.

“In all of Teignmouth, a tiny town near the ocean!” This time, it was my turn to hoot with laughter, causing the room to go dead silent once again. “I’ve got the highest test scores in Britain, you git,” I challenged, smirking. “Say hello to Cambridge Academy’s most academically gifted student.”

The other students started murmuring angrily, not pleased to see their ‘head-honcho’ being put down by a new face in the school. Before ‘Tom’ could reply, the English professor came in, and bid that everyone settle down and get prepared for a period of learning.

“You’re _so_ fucking dead, _Matt Bellamy._ ” Tom whispered to me, before heading back to his place near the front of the room. Sighing, I sat back down and got out a pen and a notebook, prepared to take notes on whatever subject the professor decided to talk about today; in this case, it was the course syllabus. I shot a quick look at Dominic, who was sitting next to the ‘Tom’ guy, and quickly mouthed, ‘what the fuck, Dominic?’ before returning to my notetaking.

Most of the period went by pretty smoothly, with the professor opting not to bombard us with questions. I was left to take my notes in peace - that is, until the professor asked the first (and last) question of the period.  
  
“So, like I mentioned, we’ll be studying Shakespeare’s literary works throughout this class,” the professor, who had recently introduced himself as Mr. Foley, said, a friendly smile upon his face. “Have any of you folks indulged in some of his works?” No one in the room chose to reply, not even Mr. I’m-So-Smart, Tom.

After a few seconds of silence, I put up my hand - _might as well assert my dominance, if I want people to respect me_ …

“You there, in the back,” Mr. Foley called, pointing at me. “I’m afraid I haven’t had the privilege to meet you yet. We don’t get many new faces in this town,” he smiled.

“Oh, uh, that’s okay, sir. I’m-”

“He’s Matt Bellamy,” Tom interrupted, earning him praise from the teacher and causing my blood to boil. He quickly turned back to me, smirking, and made a cutthroat motion, forcing me to roll my eyes in response.

“Pleasure to meet you, Matt,” Mr. Foley continued, oblivious to Tom’s motions, despite him sitting in the front row of the class. “Which Shakespearean works have you read?”

“I’ve read _Romeo and Juliet_ for leisure, and I’ve studied _Julius Caesar_ and _King Lear_ back at my previous school,” I responded, a genuine smile popping up on my face. “To be fairly honest, it was quite enjoyable.” My response generated a few snickers from my fellow classmates, to my unamusement.

“That’s impressive,” Mr. Foley said, returning the smile. “Pray tell, what school did you go to prior to coming here?”

“Cambridge Academy,” I answered, my voice swelling with pride. “Though my parents sent me here ‘cause they wanted me to live with my nan.”

“Once again, impressive.” Mr. Foley’s expression lit up with awe, like he was genuinely impressed with my origin, _unlike some people_ , I thought, shooting a heated glare to the back of Tom’s head.

“You’ve got some competition here, Mr. Kirk.” Mr. Foley said, lightly tapping on Tom’s desk, who then turned to Dominic and whispered something in his ear. He then turned back to face me once again and gave another cutthroat motion. I simply smirked and reclined in my seat, mouthing the words ‘better watch out’; this time, it was Tom’s turn to roll his eyes, before turning to face the teacher once again.

I returned my attention to Mr. Foley’s syllabus summary and my notetaking, taking the previous event as a little victory in my academic brawl with Tom Kirk.

_It probably wasn’t the start I was hoping for, but it’ll definitely prove to be an entertaining one… assuming that Tom decides to leave this as an academic rivalry and not do anything physical._

* * *

“Hey, posh slag.”

The rest of English had zoomed by, and my second class, Physics, went at an equal speed; it was now my lunch break, which I had hoped to spend in isolation - that is, until Tom and his ‘gang’ showed up at my locker door.

“Greetings to you too, Tom,” I sighed, gathering my lunch and locking my door. I turned to face him, shocked with what I saw - he was flanked by Dominic (of all people!) and another face that I didn’t recognize.

“That’s it?” Tom asked, a bit disappointed. He walked up to me and pushed me against my locker, creating a loud _clang_ that probably caused some heads to turn and look at the drama. “ _Greetings to you too, Tom,_ ” he mocked, trying to imitate my voice and Cambridge accent. “That’s all you have, after shaming me in front of the English class?” He laughed, causing Dominic and Minion #2 to join in with forced, awkward laughter.

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” I responded, rolling my eyes. I couldn’t be buggered to deal with Tom’s taunts now; I just wanted to head out and eat, and, of course, wonder why the hell Dominic was hanging out with Tom.

“Dom, Simon, help me out here,” Tom chuckled, clapping his two ‘friends’ on the shoulder. “He’s tired of me, I can tell. Give him hell, mates.”

I glowered at Dominic, sending him a silent warning. But then again, I probably deserved the foul treatment for tearing him a new one a few weeks ago (no, I hadn’t apologized yet). He shared a glance with the Simon guy, maybe a silent plead, telling him to ‘back off the new guy’?

“You got this, Dommy,” Simon reassured, then turned to me with a smirk. “You’re dead, _Bellamy_.”

I looked at Dominic, raising an eyebrow in question. Surely he couldn’t do much to hurt me, right? He’d probably throw a few weak insults at my way and then get bored of this entire scene.

Wrong. Any thoughts I had about Dominic - the shy, innocent blonde that I had come to know - were quickly wiped and replaced by new, horrible thoughts as he slugged me in the face - a harsh punch that caused my head to snap back and whack the locker once again. The sight was enough to send Tom and Simon into hysterics, before congratulating Dominic with words of victory and hard claps on the shoulder.

“Look at you, _Bellamy_ ,” Tom sneered, giving me another push against the locker. “Did your wits leave you? Got nothing to say to that?” I looked at him, my eyes filled with hatred, the feeling of a nose bleed making itself known.

“I thought so,” Tom whispered, before summoning Simon and walking off, leaving me behind with Dominic, who was staring at me with a look filled with regret, his big, grey eyes swimming with tears.

“I didn’t mean to, Matt, honest,” he babbled, trying to reason with me. “I-I’m scared of them, Matt; God knows what they would’ve done to me if I didn’t do anything.”

I glared at him, further enraged with his poor reasoning.

“Oh yeah, ‘ _I didn’t mean to at all’_. Well, it sure seemed like the opposite once you whacked my head into the locker!” I yelled, rubbing my hand against the back of my head, which was really starting to hurt.

“Matt, please, just believe me,” Dominic pleaded, tears running down his face. “H-Here, I’ll even help you find some tissues for your nose and get ice for your head,” he continued, making his way closer to me.

“You could help me by pissing off,” I snarled, pushing Dominic away. “I don’t want to deal with you anymore. You’re better off with those cunts anyways,” I said, starting to walk away from Dominic.

“But Matt-”

“Leave it,” I warned, not bothering to look back. “And to think I was beginning to find a friend. After what happened today, you can bet your lucky stars that we’re not going to get along.”

I hadn’t bothered to wait for his reply, instead focused on finding tissues to clean up my mess of a nose. If Dominic wanted to be my friend, yet act like Tom Kirk’s bloody slave, I can guarantee him that I’ll be giving him a lot more than insults.

However, I lessened my pace, feeling a pang of regret, considering that I hadn’t bothered to listen to his reasoning after the incident. He’d probably wanted to elaborate, but I’d cut him off…

It doesn’t matter. He probably wanted to tell me that the punch was an act of revenge, as was expected. I shook my head, and continued walking, attempting to push away thoughts of Tom and his gang out of my head.  
  
This school year was going to be mighty fine.


	4. Chapter 4

“Hey Matt, if that twat of a neighbour decides to punch you again, I’ll personally come down from Cambridge to sort things out.”

“Thanks, mate. I’ll be sure to give you a call if anything else pops up. Cheers, Chris.”

I then ended the call, shoved my mobile in my pocket, and continued my usual stroll along the coastline. After school (which, might I add, went surprisingly smoothly - my last two classes of the day being Tom and Dominic-free), I’d chosen to ring Chris and tell him about today’s events. I just needed someone to confide in; I couldn’t go to Dominic for obvious reasons, and I’d probably give Nan a heart attack if I told her about Tom and his gang.

I continued walking, and I found myself walking along a pier that took me out to the sea. I stood there for a while, letting the wind take me off to another place, admiring the way the waves lapped on the shore, watching the sun set over the sea… It made for an ethereal experience; such an experience could not be found in Cambridge. Despite my many complaints about Teignmouth and its inhabitants, I did find peace in one thing here: the seaside, with all the beauty that it offered.

_ I wish Chris was here to see this. He’d be blown away by the sight… _

“What’s up, Cambridge?”

Shutting my eyes, I gave out a silent curse; I’d recognized the voice instantly, even though I’d only interacted with its owner twice today. I ignored the introduction and continued to take in the sights and sounds of the coast, despite the fact that my ignorance would only further fuel his rage.

“I said, what’s up, Cambridge?” Tom taunted, immediately pushing me against the guard rail, causing it to poke me in the stomach and create an unsettling feeling. “You going to answer me, or should we get Dom to come here and give you another whack to the face?” He forced me down to my knees and pushed me forward, my face coming close to making contact with the rail.

“I believe you have eyes,” I groaned, trying to hide my discomfort. “And you can use those to see what I’m up to right now.”

“You’re bent over a rail,” Tom pointed out, chuckling. “You look like you’re about to take a cock up the arse, the way you’re positioned right now.”

“Fantastic,” I retorted, rolling my eyes. “Please tell me, how do you know about that? Do you usually take cock up your arse when you’re not tormenting people?”

My response caused Tom to hit me in the back of the head, forcing my head to snap forward and whack my face on the guard rail; I tasted blood after the action, meaning that I’d either bit my tongue or split my lip open.  _ Fucking wonderful _ .  _ That’s the second time my face has bled today. _

“Very cheeky, Bellamy,” he grumbled. “We’ll see if you’re making your ‘smart’ japes once I get my lads here.” I heard Tom take a few steps away from me, followed by him yelling out to Dom, Simon, and another guy - I believe his name was Morgan?

Tom’s call was immediately responded with the sound of skateboards rolling across the boardwalk, followed by obnoxious hoots and insults.  
  
“Hey, Tom! You’ve found him!” someone screamed in delight. A pair of strong arms lifted me up from my current position and flipped me around so that I was facing Tom and his posse. Judging from the sardonic smiles playing upon the group’s faces, my face probably looked like a mess.

“Can’t a lad take a walk in peace?” I asked them, slightly dazed. Whatever they did to me, I  _ would not _ show signs of defeat or fear; I would not give them what they wanted.

“Yeah, can’t he?” Tom asked the group, slamming me against the guard rail, pain shooting up my spine. The rest of the group went silent, unsure of what to say.

“The answer is  _ no _ , you pillocks,” Tom sighed, breaking the silence, and turning to address his group members, leaving me free from his grip.

I took this as an opportunity to run away from the group, sprinting as fast as I could, heading nowhere in particular. My initial escape attempt took the group by surprise, however their surprise was quickly followed up by shouts of anger, and the sound of quick footsteps approaching.

However, I wasn’t stopped by the pack of bastards, like I thought; I was stopped by the sight of Dominic, who hadn’t been with the rest of the group, instead opting to distance himself from them.

“Matt?” He asked, grey eyes wide. “What happened to your lip?”

“None of your fucking business,” I growled, not in the mood to deal with him right now. “You can get back to sucking Tom’s dick, I think he’s behind me.”

“Dominic!” Tom boomed, confirming my previous statement. “What’s with the tardiness, buddy?” He approached the both of us and gave Dominic a hard clap on the shoulder, making him wince. I saw an expression of fear overtake his face - something that wasn’t usually shown around Tom before; something was  _ definitely  _ up between those two. Confused, I walked closer to the pair, wanting to see what Dominic had to be afraid of (he punched me in the face earlier today, for Christ’s sake).

“I said, what’s with the tardiness?!” Tom screamed, as Dominic failed to provide an answer. Simon and Morgan flanked Tom (as per usual), ready to take the piss out of Dominic if need be.

“You were with us before we spotted Bellamy, Dom,” Morgan said, a sneer upon his face. “Were you too scared to face Matt?” Morgan lightly punched Dominic on the shoulder, while the rest of the gang laughed; however I felt my stomach knot. Dominic didn’t deserve  _ any  _ of this.

“It’s truly none of your business, Morgan.” Dominic explained, refusing to make eye contact with the other people. “I’ve my own reasoning,” he added nervously, while throwing small glances in my direction.

“You have your own reasoning, huh?” This time, it was the Simon guy who spoke. “Awwww, does Dommy-kins have a crush on the smartass?” He asked, giving Dominic a shove; Dominic instantly went red and looked at the ground.

“He does!” Tom roared, laughing. Dominic quickly looked at me and mouthed a quiet apology; it all made sense now, the frequent blushing and stuttering, his many attempts to get to know me better, and his persistence… he’d put up with my shit so many times, even after I’d expressed my lack of interest in his endeavours.  
  
“Look at him staring at you, Dom,” Tom taunted, pointing at my confused face. “He’s probably wondering how much sex he’ll get from you once we’re done.”

“You’re going to fucking pick on him ‘cause he’s gay?!” I roared, not in the mood for Tom’s bullshit. I instantly walked up to him and slammed him against the nearest railing, not giving a single fuck about how much pain I caused him, or how angry he and his minions became. “That’s such a trivial matter. I’d understand why you lot would mock me, but why him?!”

I felt the strong grip of Morgan and Simon yank me back, as Tom regained his composure and gave me the stink-eye.

“You still love him after he punched you in the face?” Tom inquired, a mad look of hatred in his eyes. “You both are whipped, I swear.”  
  
“Answer my fucking question,” I spat, still trying to free myself from Morgan and Simon’s grip.

“Fine, if Mr. Homosexual here insists,” Tom said, an air of nonchalance about him. He walked around and took a seat on the guard rail, admiring the physical struggle that I was going through.  
  
“That’s Dominic, not me,” I retorted, quickly shooting Dominic a quick glance; he’d backed far away from the group, surveying the scene from a safe distance.  _ Of course, after pulling Tom off of him, he just chooses to run away and let me suffer,  _ I thought, rolling my eyes.  _ Next time, I’ll just stand back and watch him as Tom beats the shit out of him; how would he like that?! _

Tom caught sight of my sideways glance and laughed.

“Whipped,” he cooed, before getting up from his position and walking towards Simon and Morgan.

“Drop him.”

The pair let go of me and instantly forced me to the ground, with someone pinning my arms behind my back and ensuring that I didn’t move.  
  
“I don’t like you,  _ Bellamy,” _ Tom hissed, walking around me. “First, you prance into Teignmouth and act like you’re the bloody leader of the place, then you decide to make me look like a muppet in front of the school’s professors…”

He gave me a small kick in the side before presenting his final point. “And now, you fucking prance in ‘ere and practically steal Dominic from our bloody group.”

“I did nothing to Dominic,” I gasped, trying to break free from the group’s restraint. “I-I never led him on, or anything. Would be nice if you lot believed me...” Another kick to the side, and I was left writhing in pain.

“Let go of him.”

I craned my neck to the side, and saw Dominic approach Tom, his fists raised.  
  
“What’d you say, ya fag?” Tom challenged, shoving Dominic back. Both Simon and Morgan cheered him on, all while pinning me down.  
  
“I’ve made myself clear. Let go of him.” Dominic growled, responding to Tom’s shove with an even stronger one being thrown in Tom’s direction. My eyes widened at the sight; a few minutes ago he’d been quite far from the commotion, choosing to observe my downfall with a frightened look. Now, his mood had done a full 180; he’d chosen to assert his dominance, something that I wasn’t used to him doing, especially around Tom and his clique.

Tom took a long look at me, and then switched his gaze back to Dominic, considering his options. After what seemed like an eternity, he walked up to me and pulled Simon and Morgan off; of course, after he did so, I sprung up, brushing the dirt and dust off of my clothes.

“W-Why?” Morgan sputtered, unamused. Clearly, he wasn’t satisfied with the current state I was in; he wasn’t done toying with me just yet.

“Leave the two lovebirds to shag,” Tom explained, his tone dark. “We’ve had our fun.” Morgan and Simon gathered their skateboards and made off for the town, not paying us any attention. However, Tom remained, and he walked up to me, his face overflowing with anger.  
  
“Watch out,  _ Bellamy,” _ he warned, aggressively poking me in the shoulder. “We’ll have something better prepared for you and Dom tomorrow.” On that note, he sped off after his two friends, leaving me and Dominic behind.

“Your lip looks considerably worse,” Dominic pointed out, approaching me and dabbing at it with his shirt sleeve. “I-I’m sorry for bringing all this trouble on to you, considering that you’ve got other problems with Tom…” he apologized, his shy and depressing mood returning in full force.

“S’okay, I guess…” I mumbled, letting him take care of my mangled lip. “Gives my life  _ some  _ substance, at least.”

Dominic chose not to reply, and we were overtaken by silence. We silently agreed to walk home together, with Dominic fiddling with the long sleeves of his jersey, leaving me to brood in silence.  
  
“Was Tom right?” I asked, breaking the silence. Dominic immediately snapped up and looked at me, his grey eyes filled with regret.

“Y-Yeah, he was,” he replied, voice quiet. He went back to staring at the ground and fiddling with his sleeves. “Again, I’m sorry. I was hoping that he wouldn’t find out about it, but after they went off to go and torment you… I-I couldn’t bring myself to carrying out their requests again… not after what happened earlier today. I truly thought that they’d leave you alone once I punched you… but it’s quite obvious that t-they’re not done with you,” he said, his voice wavering.   


“So you did it because you were scared of Tom…” I said, my voice soft.

“Y-Yeah. I tried to tell you, but you ran off.”

“Why, though? You were already on his good side, right?”

“H-He’s always made sure that I was indebted to him. I was like you, Matt - I’d moved here from Stockport a year ago… and I met Tom. He’s a bit of a weird one, to be frank. He’d always make sure that people knew him as the adolescent king of Teignmouth… the local kids knew him as such, but he had to make sure that the foreigners basically worshipped him…”

“So, he’s basically got a superiority complex…”

“If that’s what you smart kids call it, then sure,” Dominic responded, giving a slight chuckle and instantly making me blush.  _ Dammit Matt, get a hold of yourself. _

“Anyways, I came here and was instantly known as the shy kid. Tom decided to announce my arrival to Teignmouth by his signature boom of ‘who’s the new kid’; like he did to you. However, unlike you, I answered every question without a hint of sarcasm or smartassery, and Tom somehow decided that he liked me and took me under his wing…”

“And that needs repaying?” I asked, incredulous.

“Apparently,” Dominic answered, frustrated. “He made some sort of bullshit excuse, too; something along the lines of ‘if I hadn’t chosen to induct you into the group on your first day, then the rest of the kids would’ve torn you to shreds’. I had to repay him by carrying out his stupid tasks, like picking on other people… it was something that I hated doing, Matt. But somehow, I thought it was worth it; I was practically untouchable, with Tom on my side. He might seem like an arse, but he truly cares about those who’re on his good side.”

“You’ve got this entire idea of friendship screwed up,” I told him, rubbing my temples.

“I know,” Dominic breathed. “I-I was hoping to find a good friend in you, but you’ve made your distaste clear…”

His last statement had hit me hard. I was too caught up in my own little world, my world of angst and antisocial-ness, that I hadn’t bothered to make friends with  _ anyone.  _ I hadn’t gone out to make friends with other people when Nan asked, and I hadn’t responded to Dominic’s forwardness and persistency; hell, if I’d given Teignmouth and the locals a chance, I probably wouldn’t find myself in this entire ‘bullying-type’ situation.

“Matt?” He asked, noticing that I was caught up in my thoughts. “Did I say something wrong again?”

That last question felt like another punch in the gut; ever since I moved here, everyone’s been talking to me as if they were walking on eggshells.

Could I blame them? Not necessarily…

“No, you didn’t,” I reassured. “I’m just thinking.

“You seem to do a lot of that,” he chuckled.

“Yeah, but I can’t help it, can I?” I challenged, looking at him with a smirk. I was pleased with the sudden dynamic change in our relationship, it seemed much more relaxing than the entire ‘I-hate-you’ dynamic.  
  
“I suppose not,” Dominic laughed, before stopping and taking on a much more serious tone. “I don’t blame you, though.”

We continued walking in silence, eventually reaching the familiar cul-de-sac that I had slowly began to love. Dominic had the grace to accompany me to my front door, which, to be honest, I found rather sweet.

“Matt?” Dominic asked, as I was in the process of unlocking my door. I stared at him in question, wondering what he was going to say next.

“D-Do you still hate me?” he inquired, causing me to freeze up instantly.

“Well, uh...” I stammered, scratching the back of my head, trying to search for an answer that would please him. Dominic looked at me, his face filled with concern; I couldn’t simply brush off the question. It looked like he’d be willing to stand on Nan’s front porch until I gave him an adequate response.

“I don’t necessarily hate you, but I don’t really like-like you either,” I responded, shooting him a quick smile. “After what happened at the pier, I think it’s safe to call you an alright guy… though I still have my suspicions about you…”

Dominic instantly frowned, the good mood from our walk instantly disappearing. “You still have suspicions, even though you saw Tom push me around at the pier?”

“Yes, I do. I have my reasons,” I sighed, glaring at him. Did he seriously not forget what he did to me at lunch today?! “Forgive me for being harsh.”

“Whatever, forget it,” Dominic spat in disgust, before storming off the porch and heading to his house.

_ We’ll probably come to an understanding tomorrow morning, _ I mused, as I unlocked the door and pushed it open.

I was hoping to get into the house and clean my face unnoticed - to wash away all evidence of my encounter with Tom - however I was met with the scowling face of Nan, who looked like she was ready to bring the wrath of the seven hells upon me.

“Matthew James Bellamy,” she gasped, immediately walking up to me and cradling my face, in an attempt to get a better look at it. “What happened to you? Where were you? Tell me everything, love.”

* * *

I found myself lounging on the living room sofa, with a cup of tea in my hands and a very agitated Nan sitting on the sofa across from me.

  
“Start from the beginning,” Nan started, her voice earnest. “I want no lies, Matthew.”

So I told her the entire story, but left out a few details; I didn’t tell her about the incident during lunch break, nor had I told her about my conversation with Chris. I did, however, tell her about my introduction to Tom in English, followed up with a detailed recount of the incident at the pier (however, I’d chosen to leave out Dominic’s confession of being attracted to me; she didn’t need to know about that either). 

“So you basically went out to the pier and got attacked by those boys from your English class,” Nan reassured, summarizing what I’d just told her.

“Yes,” I said, trying to seem unperturbed by the entire situation, when in truth, I was being drowned by a melange of sadness, anger, and confusion.

Nan huffed, contemplating all possible actions that she could take against Tom and his ‘friends’. I attempted to cool my tea, not wanting to hurt my over-sensitive lips (which, Nan said, looked absolutely horrendous, with them being swollen up and cut).

“J-Just be careful, alright?” Nan told me, after what seemed like an eternity of silence.

“That’s it?” I asked, my voice blank. “You’re not going to sue him or anything?”

“Well, to be fair, this was only your first day at school, love,” Nan reassured me, getting up to pat me on the shoulder. “Who knows, maybe Tom will feel remorse for what he did to you and Dominic, and apologize in the coming weeks.”

“You don’t know Tom, Nan,” I muttered, freeing myself from my grip to head to my room.

“You’re right, I don’t,” Nan called, attempting to catch up to me. “But I am certain that he’ll apologize to both of you soon.”

There it was. The word  _ apologize.  _ A word that was supposed to make everything feel better, to make all past wrongs go away. Sure, Tom would apologize, but would that actually mean anything? My parents could apologize for whatever the hell they’ve done during my lifetime, but that wouldn’t make anything right. Tom could apologize to Dominic and I for acting like a complete twat, but that wouldn’t change my opinion of him, nor would it make me forget about his brutality at the pier. I could apologize to Dominic, but that still wouldn’t erase his slight fear of me…

I flopped down on my bed, left to think about today’s events; however, what bothered me most was the fact that Dominic was  _ attracted  _ to me. Me. Matt Bellamy. The ‘posh slag’ who needed to make himself known in the Teignmouth academic scene, the one who’d laid several verbal beatings on Dominic before.

I wasn’t sure why he’d feel that way about me… he sure had some queer tastes (no pun intended).  
  
But, I was sure that I didn’t recuperate the feelings… hell, I’m probably not even gay, for all I know.


	5. Chapter 5

Today, I ensured that I left for school earlier than yesterday; I would be able to walk without Dominic and avoid potential awkwardness, but most importantly, my chances of seeing Tom and friends would diminish. Yesterday was an action packed day; I needed a huge break from all the events going on in my life. After yesterday, I knew that my usual seaside stroll would no longer serve as an ideal unwinding method.

I got to English class around fifteen minutes before the day began; thankfully, the class lacked the presence of Tom, Dominic, and other people that absolutely despised my presence. Instead, I was greeted by the cheery disposition of the English professor, Mr. Foley (who, might I mention, was probably my favourite teacher at the school - even though I’m only two days into first semester).

“Good morning, Matt,” Mr. Foley greeted, immediately abandoning the stack of papers at his desk and approaching me. “Do you need any help with the course? Was the syllabus not clear enough?” He walked towards the board and picked up a marker, uncapping it. “Or, need we discuss fine literature before class starts?” He asked, staring at me with a look of anticipation.

I shrugged, starting to make my way towards my seat in the back. “Not incredibly sure, though I’m up for discussing the latter,” I said, unpacking my books and setting them on my desk. “I just wanted to get in a bit early, I guess.” I sat on a nearby desk, fiddling with my tie and waiting for a response.

“Is something wrong?” Mr. Foley asked, getting straight to the point; the man was either really good at reading people, or my lack of love for the community is incredibly obvious, even to those I don’t usually interact with.

“Well, no, sir, I just wanted to come in a bit early,” I replied, trying to sound casual as opposed to defensive. I didn’t need any professor to become aware of the situation between Tom and I; if what Dominic said was true, Tom was indeed well respected in the community. Authorities would be more than likely to support Teignmouth’s superstar than some random kid that’s been living in the town for about a month.

“Fair enough,” Mr. Foley replied, not sounding too convinced. He went back to his desk, resuming whatever action he’d been doing before I walked into class, leaving me alone at my desk to twiddle my thumbs or play a short game on my mobile.

“Morning, sir.”

My head snapped up, immediately seeking out the voice’s owner. My gaze went to the door, and I saw Dominic waltz into the room, oblivious to my presence. _That can’t be_ , I frowned, looking at the time on my mobile. _He didn’t come this early yesterday… why is he suddenly doing it today?_

“Good morning, Dominic. Have you decided to come in early too?” Mr. Foley asked, smiling at him.

I shrunk into my seat, half hoping that Dominic wouldn’t notice me seated at the back; however, only a fool would believe that I wasn’t in the room, with my books being on my desk and all.

“Yeah,” Dominic said, rather absentminded; he looked around the room, looking for either me or a safe place to hide. His glance finally came to rest on my pile of books, where I was trying to hide.

_Fuck. Well, this’ll be awkward._

“Matt!” Dominic called, as he hastily made my way to where I was sitting, plopping his stuff down on an adjacent desk and taking a seat next to me. Surprisingly, he didn’t seemed too miffed about what happened last night; he had a shit-eating grin on his face, and his mood seemed to have skyrocketed once he had discovered me. “What’s up?”

“Hey, Dominic,” I replied, cracking a slight smile, thankful that awkwardness had not made itself present. “You come in early to avoid Tom as well?” My question came out in a hushed whisper, not wanting to arouse Mr. Foley’s suspicions.

“Well, yeah,” he responded, looking down at his lap and twiddling his fingers. “I wanted to see if you wanted to come in with me, but your Nan told me that you’d left the house without her knowing,” he added, his voice quiet. “So I just came in by myself, and lo and behold, you were here.”

Having no response, I just nodded and shot nervous glances around the room; it wouldn’t take long for Tom to show up and continue his shitshow from yesterday.

“Matt? You okay? D-Did I do something wrong again?” Dominic asked, nervous.

“No, it’s fine,” I replied, shaking my head. “Don’t worry-”

“Good morning, Mr. Foley!”

Both Dominic and I whirled towards the door, our eyes widening as we saw Tom make his way into the room, flanked by several other students in our English class. Today, Tom’s expression was devoid of all hatred and determination he showed upon our meeting; he seemed rather… chill. _Tom Kirk and chill_ do not _go well, no matter the circumstances._

“Tom, it’s nice to see you bringing in half the class before the bell!” Mr. Foley chuckled, before heading up to Tom and giving him a nice clap on the shoulder. “Hope you all are ready for today’s revision lesson; we’re going to be rediscovering the beauty of the persuasive essay.”

I’ve got to admit, the persuasive essay was one of my favourite essays to write; it gave me the chance to enlighten others on my (mostly unorthodox) point of view on a particular subject. If the professors allowed us to choose our own topic to discuss, or assign an interesting essay question, then preparing and writing the essay would get ten times better.

“That’s amazing,” Tom said, his voice showing (most likely fake) awe. “Persuasive essays are my favourite kinds of essays to write. They give me the chance to enlighten others on my unorthodox point of view!”

I rolled my eyes and gave a heavy sigh. _Way to read my mind, asshole._

“I was told that you like, ah, _imposing_ your opinion onto other people,” Mr. Foley responded, adding a dry smile to his statement. “I’m sure that you’ll do well on the upcoming assignment, which will be explained once the rest of the class gets here.”

“Sounds wonderful, Mr. Foley,” Tom said, as he proceeded to take his usual place at the front of the class, not seeming to care about Dominic’s absence.

“Hey Matt,” Dominic whispered, leaning over to me. “Mind if I sit here until Tom decides to jump off of my arse?”

“Yeah,” I replied, my voice just as quiet. “It’s the least I can do, after how you defended me yesterday,” I added, quite grateful that Dominic mustered up the courage to defend me at the pier, even if the situation ended off on a sour note for the both of us.

“Thanks. It really means a lot.”

The bell rang, and the last of the English class shuffled in and quietly took their seats, with Mr. Foley shutting the classroom door and going into full-teaching mode, taking his place at the front of the class. Tom, who’d watched the entire traditional scene unfold before his eyes, started taking quick looks around the room; he was clearly looking for Dominic. Unfortunately, his gaze finally came to rest on my desk; Dominic was relaxing in the desk next to me, so it wouldn’t be too difficult to miss him.

However, Tom thankfully didn’t make a scene out of the change, instead opting to mouth ‘fags’ at the both of us before returning his attention to Mr. Foley at the front.

“So, as most of you may or may not know, we’ll be starting a short revision period. Like I’ve told Mr. Kirk and a few of his friends,” Mr. Foley said, pointing to a few people who were sitting a few rows away from Tom, “we’ll be going over the wonderful persuasive essay. More specifically, we’ll be going over some tips and techniques that you can use to enhance the quality of your essay, which will then culminate in a small assignment.”

I flipped to a fresh page in my notebook and pulled out a pen, ready to scribble down all ideas I had for the assignment, which was probably going to be something along the lines of writing a short persuasive essay.

So, what did I have in my essay topic arsenal?

I’ve written previous persuasive essays on matters that usually revolved around European history and its politics; this usually resulted in my English professors thinking that I was a history geek, or something along those lines. To be frank, I’ve gotten bored of the repetitiveness on the subject. Seriously, if you ask me to come up with reasons why I think the Soviet Union was a good idea, I could deliver a speech (or write an essay) about said topic in under ten seconds.

It’d be fun to write about something trivial and lighthearted. Maybe taking a cynical approach to a persuasive essay would be nice, and extremely interesting… The entire ‘aliens exist’ thing would be pretty cool, but a topic like that would seem too cliché… and not deep enough, to my tastes. There’d be some stale discussion surrounding that topic, filled with nothing but conspiracy theories.

What wouldn’t be stale? I could showcase my political views off to the universe through exposing global government scandals (or, simply, reminding the general populace about these events). Alright, it wasn’t trivial, nor was it lighthearted. But it sure was interesting...

“Uh, Matt?”

I quickly looked up from my notebook, jolted out of my daydream state, and turned to face Dominic, who was staring quizzically at the fresh notebook page.

“Did Foley mention any of that during his little lecture?” he chuckled, gesturing at my notebook page.

“Well, uh…”

I hadn’t realized that during my daydreaming state, I had been scrawling random words on the paper, most of which had to do with my essay topic brainstorming. To name a few, the word ‘aliens’ was written in capital letters and then crossed out, and the words ‘government = bad’ were written in the middle of the page and circled…

“Looks like I’ve decided on an essay topic,” I whispered, facing Mr. Foley and deciding to pay attention to his lesson.  
  
“How do you even know we’re _writing_ an essay?” Dominic asked, his voice a hushed whisper; I simply turned to him and put my finger on my lips, while gesturing to Mr. Foley, who was erasing the stuff he’d written on the board.

“Alright, now that I’ve effectively put you all to sleep, I’d like to take the time to wake you up with your little essay assignment,” Mr. Foley said, waving a stack of papers around in the air. “As you can all infer from my little lecture, I want you all to write your very own persuasive essay.” He started walking around the room, handing out the assignment as he went.

“Told you,” I smirked, which resulted in a small, annoyed push from Dominic.

“Alright, alright. I’ll go over the basics,” Mr. Foley continued. “Yes, you all can choose your own topics - but please keep them rated ‘safe for work’ - I don’t want anything remotely sexual, or featuring explicit descriptions of violence. It’s due in a few days’ time. Minimum length is two pages, double spaced, with the maximum length being five pages…”

“Fine, look at you, posh trash, you were right,” Dominic said, rolling his eyes. “But seriously Matt; the government is bad? That’s such a paranoid approach to things… how’ll you even find sources to back yourself up?” He asked, giving off a slight chuckle.

“Hey, I have proof,” I protested, trying to keep my voice low. “We have America’s MK Ultra experiment that took place in the fifties-”

“Whoa, I didn’t expect you to pull out examples that fast,” Dominic protested, while starting to laugh even harder; thankfully, no one noticed the blonde’s giggle fit.

“Excuse _you,_ but I don’t see how you’d find the concept of mind control funny-” Before I could continue, the end period bell cut me off from my little rant, causing me to pout with disappointment.

“The bell doesn’t want to hear it,” Dominic said, while gathering his stuff and shoving them into his bookbag. “So, want to meet at the front of the school during our lunch period?”

Lunch with Dominic? It seemed rather suspicious, given that he’d openly admitted his feelings for me… but it certainly couldn’t hurt. After all, I (admittedly) found our casual discussions to be rather entertaining.

“Sure,” I responded, cracking a smile. “It couldn’t hurt.”

“You know,” Dominic started, while we were making our way out of English class. “I quite like it when you aren’t grumpy and acting like you have something to prove.” He chuckled and headed off in the direction of his next class, leaving me to go over our earlier conversation and today’s plans.

_‘I quite like it when you aren’t grumpy and acting like you have something to prove’. Well, Dominic, it appears that I feel the exact same way about myself._

* * *

Before I knew it, I was taking a nice walk around town, with Dominic walking beside me, while munching on a sandwich (and enjoying the Tom-free lunch break that I was currently having). We’d decided to take a look at some of the shops surrounding the school; ones that weren’t located on our route to school.

“Hey, take a look at this one,” Dominic said, pointing out a small bookstore, which appeared to be filled to the brim with non-fiction. “Want to stop here and take a look at some books for your persuasive essay?”

“Ha ha, very funny, Dominic. I have the Internet for that,” I grumbled, though I stopped beside the store and examined the titles sitting in its window.

“I’m a bit surprised that you didn’t respond to my question with another anti-government fact,” Dominic remarked, walking up to join me.

“Oh, I’m sorry to disappoint,” I said, rather sarcastically. “Were you expecting me to tell you that the British monarchy is secretly run by lizard-men?”

“Much better,” Dominic said, before breaking out into a fit of laughter. “Though I don’t see Mr. Foley taking that statement too well.”

“No one’s going to take it well,” I sighed, rolling my eyes and walking away from the store. “I’m speaking out against the bloody government, for Christ’s sake,” I added, somewhat frustrated.

“Awww, gwumpy Bellamy returns,” Dominic cooed, causing me to look at him with wide, questioning eyes. “Did your good mood _finally_ wear off?”

The question struck a little too close to home; Chris had said the _exact_ same words back at the Academy, back when we were lounging in my dorm room and snacking on pizza, while watching shit telly. I went completely silent, not knowing how to respond to that (or, someone was going to start knocking on a door and tell me that I’m being transferred back to Cambridge Academy, leaving me with no chance to respond).  
  
“When you said that, you sounded like my best mate Chris,” I sighed, focusing on keeping my mood in check. “He said the exact same thing to me, before, well, you know.”

“Oh, that’s a coincidence,” Dominic said, suddenly aware that he was walking on thin ice; the first time I’d spoken about the Academy memories, it resulted in nothing but negativity.  
  
“Yeah, it really is,” I agreed. “I think you two would’ve liked each other, save for the fact that, well, you whacked me in the face yesterday,” I admitted, feeling somewhat guilty.

“You told him about that?” Dominic asked, his eyes widening; I nodded in response, leaving Dominic to look at the ground, rather ashamed.

“Well, yes, I told him all about it; I kind of needed a friend to talk to. I couldn’t necessarily count on you, because, well, punching someone tends to have a negative connotation, and I don’t have any other friends in this hellhole either,” I sighed, suddenly wanting to change the topic, regretting bringing this topic up with him in the first place.

“Matt, I’m-”

“Let’s drop it, yeah?” I told him, looking at him with a little smile. “It doesn’t matter. By the looks of it, we’re on each other’s good sides now; united against a common foe: Mr. Tom Kirk.” I chuckled and lightly punched him on the shoulder, just to prove his point.

“How poetic of you,” Dominic groaned, rolling his eyes. We continued walking in silence, examining the other shops that downtown Teignmouth had to offer. Every now and then, I surprised myself by stopping to take a photo of some neat architecture, probably looking like a tourist while I was doing so.  
  
“That’s the third building you’ve taken a photo of,” Dominic pointed out, as I snapped a photo of an interesting church building.  
  
“What can I say?” I chuckled, while examining the photo on my phone. “I’m a sucker for old architecture.” I shoved my mobile back into my pocket and continued walking, finishing off my sandwich as I went.

“I can tell,” Dominic remarked, giving off a hearty laugh and causing me to smile back. I was incredibly pleased with the change in our relationship’s dynamic; by the looks of it, it doesn’t look like it was going to change. Ever again.

“I hate to say it, but we should probably get back to the school,” Dominic suddenly stated, holding up his wristwatch for me to behold. “If we’re careful enough, we can avoid running into Tom and company. Here, follow me.” Dominic started jogging back to the Community College, and I had no choice but to follow him; even though I wasn’t fond of running, I didn’t want to be tardy, nor did I want to get lost.

Thankfully, we’d managed to get back to the school before the third period bell rang, and we’d also avoided Tom’s crew, which was a huge bonus; according to other students, they headed down to the pier for lunch, leaving some breathing room for all the inferior minorities in the school; I silently thanked him for choosing to dine out of the school today.

“Hey, Dominic,” I started, before we both parted ways to head to our respective classes.

“Yeah, Matt?” he inquired, raising an eyebrow in question.  
  
“I, uh, had a nice time today.” I said, scratching my head awkwardly, while my cheeks decided to heat up.

“Cool, me too,” Dominic beamed. “We should do it the next time we find ourselves Tom-free,” he proposed, before heading off to his next class and giving me a little goodbye wave.

Feeling conflicted, I too made my way to my next class. Earlier, I was certain that I didn’t like the blonde as a friend, but now, I was having second thoughts about that. I didn’t lie to him about enjoying our time together; I _did_ appreciate our little conversations during the lunch break and English class, and I didn’t get overly angry with him when he decided to tease me about my essay subject…

 _Damn him. Damn him and his easy way of getting along with people,_ I thought, as I shook my head and started quickening my pace. I couldn’t afford to have my mind hung up on someone’s opinion on me; I was better than that.

For the time being, I had other stuff to worry about; Dominic’s interests shouldn’t be such a high priority, nor should my emotional confusion be a problem, either. There are bigger fish to fry, like that persuasive essay that I had to do research for…

Feelings could wait, as always.

* * *

_"Oi, Academy tosser! Come here, we’re not finished with you yet!”_

_“Why are you running? Got no confidence, now that ol’ Dommy-boy isn’t here to protect you?”_

_“Look here: it’s Matt Bellamy. The fifteen year old who thinks he’s a fucking prodigy. Isn’t he a special snowflake, lads? Look at the look of fear in his eyes.”_

_“MK Ultra? Mind control? Whatever you’re smoking, I want some of it. You’re fucking delusional, you probably pulled this out of your arse or something.”_

_“Whipped.”_

I woke with a start, my head clammy with sweat, my heart beating out of my chest, and my mind swimming with images of Tom doing unspeakable things to me.

_Great, now he decides to haunt me in my dreams. Fucking beautiful._

Groggy eyed, I scanned my surroundings, unsure of what I was up to before I fell asleep at my desk.

My room was illuminated with the dim glow of my laptop screen, which was left open on a page outlining details of worldwide governments acting irrationally in situations. The wall adjacent to my desk was littered with sticky notes and various pictures, and the memories all came flooding back to me.

I’d gotten home and immediately took to working on the essay, and I may or may not have blown the task way out of proportion; yes, I’d managed to write the essay with some information I stuck in some sort of outline, but now, I had an ever-growing fascination about government cruelty, how it affected citizens of their respective countries, and methods used to cover these scandals up. I started to make a little flow-chart with my findings and intended to link them all to a common factor, or a common outcome; so far, I’d completed thorough research on project MK Ultra (explaining the current sticky notes and pictures that were currently plastered on my wall).

Yeah, I admit that what I was doing was rather weird and would definitely put me on some sort of list… but I didn’t care. Here in Teignmouth, I was a nobody. No one cared about what I was up to, save for a couple of people. No one would have to know about the type of research I was conducting ‘for fun’... and the conspiracy theories that would eventually come out of this project.

Rubbing my eyes, I stared at the time on my laptop monitor. _01:23_. I could continue researching about this subject, but I’d probably fall asleep once again, getting nothing done. After a certain point in the day (or rather, night), stuff like this, no matter how interesting it seems at first, gets to be a chore.

 _What would Dominic think if he saw what I was doing?_ I thought, examining the area with my in-progress diagram. _Would he still… like me after he sees this mess on my wall?_

I shook my head with vigour, silently cursing myself for thinking about such a thing. Knowing that I wasn’t going to fall asleep any time soon (and not wanting government research to sedate me), I slipped on a warm jumper, a pair of comfortable shoes, and snuck outside of the house, careful not to wake Nan.

I made my way out of the cul-de-sac, opting to take yet another walk along the seaside; the early morning creating a perfect backdrop for relaxation. Here, all one could hear was the soft sound of waves hitting the beach, and the sound of wind gently blowing in the night. Almost subconsciously, I made my way over to Teignmouth’s Grand Pier, which I’d never been to; the area was usually taken over by Tom and his crew, and I was left to wander along some of the smaller piers in the area.

Nan told me that she’d taken me and Paul here quite a few times, but I wasn’t able to remember. To be fairly honest, now that I think about it, I didn’t remember _anything_ about my first years in Teignmouth, nor did anyone mention them, until I was reunited with Nan a few weeks ago.

I came to a stop outside of the Grand Pier, and stopped to examine the building. The building looked quite inviting; it was fairly large, had a few glowing signs on it, and bore the word ‘PIER’ on a sign at the top. There were multiple flags at the front of the building, advertising some event or other going on in the near future. I peered into the window, and found the familiar flashing lights of an arcade, with some games still running. _Looks like someone forgot to turn the power off_.

Even though I was just viewing it in the dead of night (when it was devoid of people), the sight of the pier filled me with a sense of longing. Coming to a place like this, with some of your best friends, must create some of the best feelings in the world. Laughing at them when they lose to some stupid gimmick, or were extremely close to winning, and heckling them when they’ve struck jackpot on a game… those were events that I’ve always enjoyed.

_And… you can’t really live those events here, can you?_

_No, I can’t,_ I realized, while staring at the ground, a single tear running down my cheek. I don’t have friends, save for Dominic, who was only a mere acquaintance; and even if I did, I probably couldn’t prance around the Pier without being noticed… and intercepted… by Tom bloody Kirk.

_“Unlike you, I answered every question without a hint of sarcasm and smartassery… and Tom decided that he liked me.”_

I should’ve kept my mouth shut yesterday and showed some respect for Tom, then I wouldn’t have felt _this_ lonely. I wouldn’t have felt like I was stepping on rotten ice every time I walked somewhere that wasn’t in my neighbourhood. This entire fiasco could’ve been avoided, and who knows, maybe Dominic and I would’ve had a stronger friendship. Maybe Tom and I would’ve actually been friends.

I wandered around a bit longer, choosing to brood about all possible events that could’ve happened, had I not blundered yesterday. The things I said yesterday were so petty, too; did I get any long-lasting joy from insulting Tom?

No. No. The answer was the same: fucking _no._

My brooding was quickly interrupted by the sound of a scream, followed by obnoxious laughter and the smashing of… beer bottles?

_It’s probably a group of people having a party out here, they don’t need your concern._

I continued walking along the coast, trying to forget about the scream I heard earlier; but I simply couldn’t. I heard the scream again, followed by frantic yelling and cursing. This time, there wasn’t a period of silence after the commotion; I heard more laughing and cursing, with some panicked whimpering thrown into the mix. And, as an added bonus, it seemed to be coming from the back of the Grand Pier, a few meters away from where I was standing a few moments ago.

Curious, I wandered over back to the Grand Pier. The noises did not stop, nor did they get louder; there were several other voices trying to get the others to quiet down, much to the distaste of some other people in the group.

The sight that greeted my eyes was beyond surprising, not to mention frightening; it took all my willpower to not jump into the middle of the scene and start hurling myself at people.  
  
“Dominic?!”


	6. Chapter 6

_No. No. How could he manage to get himself in this type of situation? This just screams out ‘anti-Dominic’..._

“Matt, help me.” Dominic squeaked, tears running down his face, while desperately clutching at a near-empty bottle of beer. He was crumpled up against a wall and was writhing in pain - a sight that I was _not_ expecting to see, especially _now_. “Please.”

“Help him, and you’ll get your fucking throat slit,” Tom threatened, approaching me with a broken beer bottle in one hand, and a full one in another. “This is _our_ party. You weren’t invited. You had no business at the pier in the first place,” he spat, staring at me with an unsettling gaze. There was a noticeable slur to Tom’s words; he was drunk. Judging from the wild look in his eyes and the crying Dominic in front of me, he didn’t get any tamer when intoxicated.

I looked around the back of the pier; thankfully, Simon and Morgan were nowhere to be found, despite the other voices that I heard earlier. They were either fetching some more drinks for their little ‘party’, or had decided to leave Tom and Dominic alone for the night, with Tom wanting some ‘one-on-one’ time with Dominic. I honestly didn’t know which scenario would be scarier; Tom was drunk enough, and Dominic was… hurt enough.  
  
“Matt,” Dominic pleaded, trying to get up from his crumpled position. “C-Can you t-take me back to m-my place?” He set down his bottle of beer, and held his arm out, expecting me to take it and lead him out of this hell.  
  
“Oi, we’re not finished yet, Dommy-boy,” Tom growled, while aggressively kicking Dominic’s arm away and forcing him against the wall once again, causing Dominic to grunt in pain.

“Fuck off, Kirk,” I spat, immediately getting in the way of him and Dominic and shielding him from further harm. “Let him go.”

In response, Tom gave off a rather psychotic smile and took a large swig of beer.  
  
“‘m not done,” he said, grinning. “Let me have my fun, Bellamy. After all-” he stepped closer to me - he was close enough so that I could smell the strong scent of alcohol radiating off of him. “-I let you have _your_ fun in English.”

I immediately shoved Tom away from me, not wanting his rank scent to get on my clothes.

“That was nothing but verbal banter,” I protested. “I don’t recall physically harming you that day, and even if I did, that gives you absolutely _no_ right to treat Dominic this way,” I spat, gesturing at the boy’s scrunched up position on the ground. He hadn’t bothered to prop himself up; a worrying action that enraged me even more. _What did Tom_ do _to him?_

“Relax,” Tom said, an air of nonchalance about him. “I didn’t start hitting him right off the bat. I invited him out here-”

“Lured him, you mean,” I snapped, balling my hands into fists. 

“ _Invited_ him,” Tom corrected, giving me the evil eye. “Anyways, I _invited_ him here to have some drinks with Morgan, Simon, and myself.” He took a seat on a nearby crate and chugged some of his beer, tossing the bottle aside upon discovering that it was empty. 

“We were going to make a deal,” he continued, his voice taking on a calmer tone. “We’d reconcile and shit, I’d feed him beers, we’d joke about random shit, and we’d be all buddy-buddy,” he chuckled, leaving me stunned. Reconciliation and Tom Kirk? Those two made for a _very_ unlikely combo.

Noticing my stunned face, Tom chuckled once again. “Relax, Bellamy. Just because I’m not nice to you doesn’t mean I have to be mean to other people.”

“How in God’s bloody name does beating someone count as niceness?” I asked, anger rising.

“I’m not done, shut up.” Tom snapped, holding his hand up. As if that could stop me from speaking out against him!

“Our meeting was going well, ‘til I asked him to drop that love affair that you two have going on,” Tom continued, his voice growing dark. “He started arguing with me. Which eventually escalated to physical fighting.” He got up and stood over Dominic’s limp form, regarding it with an unreadable look. 

“The fact that he was mad pissed didn’t help at all,” Tom chuckled, giving Dominic a good kick in the stomach, which resulted in another shriek from the blonde. “He can barely fight while sober, what’s the good in fighting when drunk? More importantly, why would he fight _me_ when drunk? There’s no point in fighting me when drunk, especially when I’ve got my mates to back me up.” He turned to me, a mad glint in his eyes; judging from his looks, I’d probably be the next one to be beaten bloody.

“But… why?” I asked, starting to feel slightly hopeless. “You got him drunk so you could do the unthinkable without him putting up much of a fight, even if it was already three-on-one at the time,” I accused him. “You would’ve gone farther, had I not intervened.”

“Whoa, you’re smart,” Tom smirked. “Yes, I would’ve. I told you, I’m not done partying yet. Even if you scared Morg and Simon off, I’ll still continue the party. Alone.”

“Stop it,” I threatened, approaching Tom with clenched fists. “He’s hurt enough. You’ll probably kill him if you take it further.”

“Don’t care,” Tom said, nonchalant. “He needs to learn his place. You don’t see people rebelling against their superiors without consequence, right?”

I had nothing to say to that - as much as I was loath to admit it, the fucker was right.  
  
“That doesn’t justify-”

“Oh, don’t tell me you don’t do the same thing!” Tom snapped, all of his drunk tics having gone away. He approached me once again, until we were only mere centimeters away from each other. “I _know_ you work the same way as I do, you Academy scum. That was your mission from Day One; make everyone feel _stupid_ , and have them bow down to you and your wonderful, private-schooled, top percentile brain. It’s so fucking _obvious_.”

With a sudden shock of realization, I stepped back, with pure shock written all over my face.

He was right.

“Look, don’t hate me for doing this to Dom,” Tom said, holding his arms up. “You’ll be hypocritical for doing so, which is a big no-no.” He walked over to Dominic, picked him up, and pinned him against the building wall, making my eyes widen at the sight. Dominic appeared to have been knocked out stone cold, with his head flopping about and his limbs moving freely.  
  
“J-Just leave him alone and fuck off,” I stammered, immediately walking up to Dominic’s limp form and prying him away from Tom’s grip. “He’s done with your bullshit, and to be honest, so am I.”

Tom stared at me with a blank expression, which then contorted into a sadistic smile.

“He’s yours, Bellamy,” Tom chuckled. “There’s no fun in beating a dead opponent. But, I assure you, I’ll get my revenge for this. I don’t appreciate people interfering with my plans.” On that note, he walked off into the night, leaving me with a limp Dominic slung over my shoulder and a head filled with worries.

I scurried home as fast I could, which, thankfully, was a rather quick pace, thanks to Dominic not weighing much. I tried to avoid roads that put me in high visibility, not wanting people to think that I was attempting to hide a dead body or kidnapping the poor kid, though the latter was a suitable description for the current situation; I didn’t want to frisk Dominic for his house keys, sneak into his home and dump him in his bedroom - I’d just have to let him crash at my place instead. 

Once I got to the familiar overdecorated house, I fumbled for my house keys and clumsily let myself in, hoping that Nan was a heavy sleeper, given the racket that I was making. Upon locking the door, I made my way upstairs, huffing with effort - the kid’s weight multiplied when being carried up stairs, apparently.

Exhausted, I threw him down on my bed, not bothering to cover him up with sheets or anything - if he needed any extra comfort, he could probably pull the covers up in his sleep, besides, I was extra buggered and a bit miffed at the sour turn my night stroll had taken. 

I flopped down on my desk chair and held my head in my arms, trying to process tonight’s (or rather, this morning’s) events; had I opted to stay at home and continue my anti-government research, Dominic could’ve ended up a lot worse than this - maybe he’d end up in a hospital bed as opposed to my own.

Dominic wasn’t the only problem; Tom was one as well. What he said about me was nothing short of correct, I guess… I came to Teignmouth bearing the thoughts that I was better than everyone else, mainly due to my previous education at the Academy. 

Was I truly superior to everyone, though? The majority of the town probably hated me, since Tom made his dislike for me quite apparent. It wouldn’t take long for the mob with pitchforks to come after me, and, as Tom said, “put me in my place”. 

But, there was a lingering question that I needed to find the answer to. Tom always seemed to lay back on his beatings once I, or Dominic, arrived on scene to support the person in need of aid. I found it weird; why would Tom, a guy who enjoys asserting his dominance, _ever_ back down from a fight? 

Whatever the reason, I sure as hell didn’t bother puzzling over it this late at night; I found myself sucked into the void known as sleep, temporarily forgetting about tonight’s events and my suspicions.

* * *

“Matthew?” _Knock._  

“Matthew?!” _Knock knock._  

“Matthew James Bellamy, open this door this instant!” _BANG. BANG. BANG._  

Confused, dazed, and feeling like I was just hit by a truck, I awoke to the sound of a shrill voice screaming and a fist pounding on the door. I was greeted with the sight of unfamiliar blue walls with little to no decoration; I hadn’t been here before, had I…? 

Groaning, I sat up, rubbing my eyes and looking around the room, trying to make sense of where I was. A poster for an old Glastonbury was hung up on one wall, another wall bore various sticky notes and pictures, a guitar and amplifier sat in the corner, and there was an occupied desk chair that had someone sleeping on it… 

“MATTHEW?! YOU BETTER OPEN THE DOOR, OTHERWISE I’M RINGING THE COPS!”

Matt’s sleeping figure quickly sprung to life, his radiant blue eyes filled with fear and shock, as he practically jumped out of his desk chair, nearly toppling it over in the process. He looked quite distraught and untidy - a sight that I was _never_ used to seeing (hell, the guy had always dressed nicely, no matter the event). 

Matt opened the bedroom door, and was greeted by the scowling figure of his nan; whose eyes immediately darted to the bed and my confused expression.

“Dominic’s parents were worried sick,” his nan gasped, her eyes darting between Matt and I. “They said, and I quote, that they ‘nearly had a heart attack’ when they discovered that Dominic wasn’t home. And now I’m going to have one too, having just found out that my grandson was sleeping with him!" 

Poor Mum and Dad; I’d put them through so much trouble… but I’m probably more confused than they are at the moment. Why am I in Matt’s bedroom?

“Nan, it isn’t what it looks like,” Matt protested, running his fingers through his messy hair. “I wasn’t sleeping with him.”

“Then what in the Queen’s bloody name _were_ you two doing?!” his nan cried, clearly exasperated.

“Spontaneous research night,” Matt grumbled, clearly not in the mood for this. “I found some cool information that I needed to use in some science project, and I decided to call him over so that I could show him,” he explained, his mood worsening with every passing word. “It went later than expected, alright?”

“So he snuck out,” his nan responded, looking at me with a scowl. 

“No, he took a bloody aeroplane and flew to Australia!” Matt snapped, shrieking at the poor woman. “Of course he snuck out, Nan, use some common sense for once!” I gasped at his last statement; it seemed that he was a never-ending ball of anger. His nan didn’t deserve any of this.  
  
“Sorry about that,” I offered, my voice quite hoarse. “P-Please tell my parents that I’m alright, and didn’t intend on staying here for this long,” I cracked a slight smile, trying to lighten the mood; however, Matt’s nan wasn’t quite convinced by my explanation.

“I hope you two realized that you’re late for school,” was her only response. “I want both of you out of here in half an hour. That is final.” She soon stormed off downstairs, leaving Matt to slam his door shut and give me the evil eye.

“Welcome to my Nan’s place,” Matt said, clearly pissed. “Sorry about the rude awakening, I was hoping that we’d get to sleep for a bit longer.”

“Uh, Matt?! Spontaneous research night?!” I cried, springing out of his bed. “Bugger that, why am I in _your_ house, in _your_ bed?!”

“Jesus Christ, looks like Tom really handed it to you earlier today,” he muttered, before plopping back down in his desk chair. “Looks like you forgot your experience at the pier, with the drinks and the fighting and all of that.”

_Oh, shit._

The memories came flooding back to me, accompanied by a throbbing headache; I’d stupidly accepted Tom’s invitation to the pier, hoping that it would resolve the tension between myself and his group. Before I knew it, he was having me chug beers and asking me questions that somehow sent me in a fit of rage…

“Yeah, you remember now?” Matt asked, watching my expression change.

I simply nodded in response and took a seat on his bed, staring at the floor in awe.

“But… how’d you know?” I asked Matt, refusing to make eye contact with him.

“Took an early morning walk by the grand pier and heard the commotion,” he shrugged, while proceeding to examine his sticky notes on the wall. “I saw you crumpled up, like a soda can. You started to beg for help once you saw me arrive.”

“Oh…” I continued staring at his bedroom floor, unsure of how to react. I’d gone and messed up big time, but then Matt had gone out of his way to save me. He could’ve just resumed his walk along the pier instead of checking out the commotion, or he could’ve immediately backed away upon seeing Tom, or he could’ve-

“Relax, you’re safe now,” Matt offered, walking up to me and placing his hand on my shoulder. “I’ve got your back, Dominic.”

The touch, accompanied by his reassuring words, sent chills running through my spine. Never would I have expected Matt to say that he had my back. Sure, it showed, especially after what happened earlier today, and the previous incident at the pier, but still...

I looked up, and saw Matt staring in my direction, a wonky smile plastered on his face.

“Cute,” I muttered, before getting up to examine his room. 

“Ha, what was that?” He challenged, while going back to lounging on his desk chair. “Did you just call me cute?”

“You heard nothing,” I responded, while blushing. _What happened to your filter, Dom? Did Tom punch it out of you?_

“Nice guitar,” I offered, looking at his guitar and amplifier combo. The guitar was a nice shade of black - it looked nice, and probably sounded nice too, judging on how well-kept it looked. Not a single scratch was to be seen, and the body practically glistened in the morning light.

“Thanks. My parents got it for me last Christmas.” he replied. I turned my gaze back to Matt, who was staring at me, trying not to burst out laughing.

“Matt-”

“D’awww, but you called me cute,” he pointed out, before breaking out into high-pitched laughter. “Are you still drunk, Dominic?”

“Matt, I swear, stop it,” I pleaded, immediately going beet red. “You heard nothing.”

“Fine, fine, I didn’t,” he relented, turning to face his laptop and begin typing away on something or other; he seemed quite reluctant to drop the subject, which I found to be quite weird… Then again, the guy was nothing _but_ weird.

“What’re you working on, Matty?” I asked, walking up to him, ready to examine whatever he was working on. _Damn, this guy is dedicated to school; he’s started working on something within an hour of getting up. That’s impressive_ _._  

“Nothin’,” Matt replied, lost in his own little world. He continued typing away on his computer, seeming not to care about being watched while he worked.

“Matt, Project MK Delta? Really?” I asked, chuckling. The guy _really_ was cynical, huh?

“Yeah,” Matt started, scribbling a few notes on a sticky note, then proceeding to stick them up on a wall. “It’s connected to MK Ultra, you know, the thing I told you about yesterday.” He continued to take notes, his handwriting getting more illegible with every passing word.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” I sighed, leaning on his desk chair. “But Matt, as your nan so kindly pointed out, we’re late for school. The more time you spend developing your conspiracy theories, the more-”

“I get it,” Matt huffed, set on doing his research. “Dominic, look at it this way: the more time we waste here, the less time we’d have to spend with Tom motherfucking Kirk.”

“Sure, whatever,” I responded, agreeing with his statement, though deep down, I wanted to see Tom. We’d been close to reaching an agreement yesterday, however I was too pissed up to think clearly. Now that I think about it, we could’ve probably made up, had I not been drunk.

“Dominic, if you want to head to school right now, please, feel free to-”

“MATTHEW! School! Now!” The sound of Matt’s nan’s shrill voice cut Matt’s thought off, causing Matt to spring out of his chair and slam his laptop shut in a display of sheer rage.

“Fine! Whatever!” Matt yelled back, immediately heading over to his closet and pulling out a fresh set of uniform garments. Upon doing so, he immediately turned back to me and regarded me with an unreadable look. 

“Looks like skipping out on Tom-fest isn’t an option,” I said, rather grimly. “I’ll head home and change, yeah?” I continued, beginning to make my way towards the bedroom door. It’d be hard to face my parents after failing to make it home before they woke up, but then again, it’s better than facing them in the hospital and having to explain my fallout with Tom. At least I could use Matt’s excuse.

“No,” Matt called, chucking some clothes in my direction, which then hit me in the back, prompting me to whirl around and face him. “If you don’t want to head home and face your parents - which, I’m sure you don’t at the moment - feel free to borrow some of my clothes. I think they’re about your size,” Matt continued, pulling another set of uniform garments out of his closet. 

“Uh, thanks,” I said, gathering the pile of uniform at my feet and heading into the adjacent washroom to change. The sudden act of kindness had taken me by surprise; Matt didn’t strike me as the type of guy to ‘feel generous’ and share his belongings with anyone else, let alone a guy that he’d only met a few weeks ago. I felt that he was trying to make up for something - but what? Sure, during our first encounter, he’d flipped out at me in front of my parents, he’d refused to join my ‘band’, and he’d flipped out at me after I whacked him – but those were all events that would be forgotten in a few months’ time.

Despite what the crazy fool thinks of me, I’m always willing to believe in him; I truly think that he’s a good person. However, I don’t know if he thinks the same about himself, which is truly heartbreaking, to be honest…

I stumbled out of the bathroom, clutching the clothes that I was wearing last night. There was a significant difference between last night’s clothes and the uniform – I hadn’t realized that last night’s outfit reeked of beer; the scent would’ve definitely driven my parents insane, had I decided to return home. The scent of beer was replaced by the scent of cologne, which lingered on Matt’s uniform; the guy _really_ made sure that his appearance was a priority, huh?

I walked back into Matt’s room, and my suspicions were correct. His previously messy hair was now styled and organized, with his clothes looking quite proper. I couldn’t help but gawk at his appearance; sure, when he looked rather untidy, he was still attractive, but his properness made his attractiveness increase by five hundred percent.

“Enjoying what you see, Blondie?” Matt asked, giving me a wicked smirk. He picked up his schoolbag, slung it over his shoulder, and started making his way downstairs. 

“Oi, fuck you, Matt,” I grumbled, following him. With a sudden shock, I’d realized that all my school stuff was sitting in my bedroom, which meant that I’d have to sneak back into my place and face my parents. _Well, looks like I’ve only been delaying the inevitable…_

“I’m sure that there are some people in this world that would like to,” Matt shot back, opening the front door and letting us out. _Whoa, since when did Matt’s perverted side start to show itself?_

“Are you drunk?” I asked, incredulous. “You’re such a tease, Matthew.” I stared at him in disbelief, causing Matt to roll his eyes.

“ _Matthew._ Who are you, my father?” Matt chuckled, clapping me on the shoulder. _Jeez, he’s acting friendlier than usual today._ “Anyways, you seem to lack a schoolbag. Do you need to head over to your place and pick one up?”

I nodded in response, and then began to make my way over to my house. With a lump forming in my throat, I unlocked my door, silently hoping that Matt would wait outside; I didn’t need my parents to see him, given that they’d formulated a terrible opinion of him already. 

“Dominic James Howard, where on _Earth_ have you been?!”

I was assaulted with my mum’s signature bear hug, followed by her signature death stare. I was in for a wild ride; knowing her, she was probably going to ask me a load of questions, and then follow it up with a punishment. Luckily for me, her punishments weren’t too harsh – last time, it had just been a simple ‘you’re not allowed to drum on weekdays for two weeks’.  
  
“Good morning, Mum,” I said, hugging her back. “I got a call from a friend, concerning a science project. He showed me a bunch of interesting information, and we decided to travel down the science wormhole together; sadly, it took longer than I had hoped.” 

“Oh, Dominic,” Mum tsk’d, shaking her head. “It couldn’t wait until after school? You look like a mess.” 

I shrugged in response, careful to give her a response that would please. “I guess not. It was extremely interesting, so my time didn’t really go to waste,” I yawned after that last statement, hoping that it would help convince her.  
  
“Is that so? Do you mind sharing one piece of information that you learned during your late night study session?”

I gulped, my eyes immediately growing wide. I couldn’t just tell her something that I’d learned at school – she was fully aware of this year’s curriculum. If I mentioned something that she knew about, then she'd know that I was lying.

But Matt had spouted off some random facts about those government event things, right? Something about MK Ultra, or Delta, or Omega, or whatever MK event he decided to tell me about; it involved mind control, right? 

“Uh, human mind control is completely plausible,” I managed, complete with my best fake smile.

Thankfully, Mum bought the fact; even going so far as to look impressed with the fact.  
  
“And which friend taught you that? Was it Tom? He’s always been a smart cookie,” she inquired. _Oh boy, she was_ not _going to like the answer._  

“Matt Bellamy.” I responded, smiling. Of course, my response immediately destroyed Mum’s mood, with her expression shifting to that of anger.

“That’s the Cambridge boy who berated you,” Mum began, sighing. “And yet you still find the will to spend time with him, even after that breakdown you had after him and his nan left-" 

“Mum, it’s okay,” I interrupted, not wanting to talk about my feelings; yes, I freaked out after the disastrous turn that the dinner had taken, but I’d also decided to leave it behind me, looking nowhere but _up._ “I’ll get my school bag, yeah? Matt’s waiting outside.” I started to make my way upstairs, however I was intercepted with the strong grip of my mum.

“Be careful,” Mum warned, handing me my school bag. _Aw, she’s always been looking out for me._

“I don’t want you getting hurt again, Dominic. I don’t want that boy inflicting physical harm onto you,” Mum continued, crossing her arms. “But, as you know, you have Tom to go to, if Dad and I are out of reach.” On that note, she practically shoved me out of the front door, eager for me to get to school.

 _Tom is no longer an option,_ I mused, replaying foggy memories of what happened at the pier yesterday. _Matt is my_ only _option._

I was greeted by the sight of Matt, who was busy playing a quick game on his phone. Hoping that he wouldn’t be too bothered if I teased him a bit, I quickly walked up to him and snatched his phone out of his palm; it was an easy task to do, since he wasn’t aware about what was happening around him.

“Wanker!” He snarled, while chasing me around my front porch. I chuckled, holding the phone high above his head; thanks to his shortness, he wouldn’t be able to snatch the phone out of my grip.

After a minute of him trying to reclaim his phone, he finally gave up, pouting and making his way out onto the cul-de-sac. 

“Matt?” I called, running to catch up to him. He whirled around to meet my gaze; his unreadable gaze immediately met my grey eyes, his blue eyes practically sparkling. _But damn, those eyes are the most beautiful things I’ve caught sight of._

“Give me my mobile, please,” he sighed, holding his hand out. I was quick to obey, slamming the damned thing into his palm; I was a bit reluctant to let go of it, but at least he said _please._

“Now that that’s taken care of,” he smirked, shoving his phone into his pocket. “Should we get going?”

We walked in silence; with Matt not being much of a talkative fellow, and with me lost in thought. He’s always been trying to portray the ‘tough guy’ personality, especially with people he hasn’t met before. Sure, it worked on some people, but to me, he’s known as my ‘knight in shining armour’.

I suppose that our friendship got off to a sour start, however all wrongs were quickly made right over multiple occasions, when he’d decided to save me from some beatings from Tom. Even if he’d brush those events off and pretend that nothing had happened, I’d be sure to remember them for a while; I’d remember Matt getting me out of the sticky situations, not Tom's gang and the torture that they put me through.

“Hello? Earth to Dominic?” Matt started, waving his hand in front of my face. “You’ve been staring at me for the past few minutes. Is everything alright?”

I gulped, unsure of what to say. I could thank him for everything he’s done for me, however he’d probably brush off the compliments, as was expected; unlike what I’ve done in the past, I decided to tell him about my current thoughts, with minimal sugarcoating involved.

“Matt. I-I think I l-love you.”


	7. Chapter 7

“Um, what?”

I’ll be honest; the news didn’t come as a surprise. Dominic had hinted at his attraction before, going so far as to inform Tom of his taste in guys, but I was not expecting him to bring it up ever again. I was hoping that he’d drop the subject and take his little ‘secret’ to the grave.

“I-I don’t think it needs repeating,” Dominic said, immediately going red and turning away from my gaze. “I don’t think I _want_ to repeat it.”

I said nothing to that, instead turning my focus on the walk to school. It was clear that he’d mustered a lot of courage to explicitly state his feelings for me, but I couldn’t address them. Not now, anyways. The rest of my life was too much of a clusterfuck, with the entire Tom dilemma unfolding and all; I didn’t need to paint yet another target on my back by dating the kid.

I’d happily respond to banter - hell, I’d even bantered with him this morning – but I wasn’t ready for a relationship, especially with someone of the same gender.

However, I knew that a negative response would result in a very hurt Dominic; I didn’t want him to feel hurt anymore. He’s turned the entire world against him when he pissed off Tom; he didn’t need to feel like that he’d earned himself yet another enemy. 

We continued walking in silence, leaving Dominic and I to brood in peace. We walked at a relatively slow pace, with a silent agreement to try and waste as much time as possible. 

“Matt,” Dominic breathed, after having had enough of the awkward silence that had washed over us. “I-I’m sorry for putting you on the spot like that.”

“S’okay,” I mumbled, absentmindedly running my hands through my hair. “Don’t you dare worry about it, Dominic Howard.”

I had expected to make Dominic chuckle with my last statement, but it seemed like my lack of a response to his question had sucked all of the life out of him. All of the happiness that was present in him this morning was gone, his facial expression seeming dead.

“Whatever, Matt,” Dominic sighed, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice. “Let’s just keep on walking.”

By the time we got to the school, it was already lunch period, and the masses were already pouring out of the school’s front doors. Cursing, I’d realized that we’d failed to eat anything before we left Nan’s place, and I quickly checked myself for any loose change that I had brought with me, hoping to treat Dominic and I to some unhealthy cafeteria food.  
  
“I’d buy us some lunch – or rather, breakfast,” I said, still frisking myself for change. “But, I don’t have any spare money on me.” I turned to Dominic with an apologetic look, hoping that he wouldn’t be too displeased with the entire ordeal.

“How ironic,” Dominic responded, voice devoid of emotion. “I appreciate the gesture, though.”

“Come on buddy, perk up,” I said, clapping Dominic on the shoulder and making him wince. “There are other people to fuck, you’ll be fine.”

Dominic shoved me away from him and immediately turned away, trying to hide the hurt in his face. I’d tried to make him feel better about the entire matter, but it appears that I’d gone and made it worse with my last statement; I could’ve sworn that I saw a stray tear fall from his cheek.

_Well, I’ll be fucked. We’re back at square one._

“Are you Matt Bellamy?” The awkward silence was broken by a group of girls that decided to approach us, led by a somewhat attractive-looking brunette. Surprised, Dominic turned to me and closed the distance between us, as if to indicate that I was his; I appreciated the gesture (hey, being protected by someone felt nice), but, much to his dismay, I was not going to be dating him.  
  
“That’s me,” I said, offering a smile. “You’ve found the right guy.” The leader-brunette squealed in delight, with the rest of her group giggling and patting her on the shoulder. The rest of the group offered words of good luck and quickly left our conversation, leaving the brunette with Dominic and I.

“My name’s Emily,” she chirped, seeming to be bouncing with delight. “I’m in your English class.”

 _Oh, English. The class that’s ruled by Tom Kirk._ My expression shifted to one of slight disgust; what if she was another one of Tom’s minions?

Emily seemed to notice my change in expression and immediately placed a hand on my shoulder, leaving me to stare at her in shock.

“Don’t worry, I’m not like _them,”_ Emily said, trying to reduce the distance between us two. Uncomfortable, I immediately stepped back, however the scene was enough to make Dominic angry, as he quickly excused himself from our conversation and walked towards the interior of the school building. Wanting to talk to him about the entire ordeal, and to get away from the crazy brunette, I attempted to follow Dominic, however Emily grabbed my wrist and pulled me back, much to my displeasure.

“Now that _he’s_ gone,” Emily started, pursing her lips in the most unseductive way possible. “Want to go and hang out by the pier?”

“Uh, actually, I wanted to spend lunch with my best mate,” I stammered, trying to free myself from her surprisingly strong grip.  
  
“Oh?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “I thought you needed food?”

_Well shit, she’s listened in to Dominic and I’s conversation. Seriously, what is up with this crazy bitch?_

I couldn’t ignore my stomach, which decided to give off a loud growl at the mention of food. However, I couldn’t just rob a random stranger of some cash, even if she was willing to feed me…  
  
“Thanks, but no thanks,” I replied, stepping back from her. “I’ve no money to buy food.” I turned to leave, however I was held back by another strong hold of my wrist. 

“It’s on me,” Emily insisted, starting to lead me away from the school grounds. “We’ll grab some lunch at a nearby fish and chips, and we can take a little stroll around the seaside." 

I started to mutter out a response that expressed my desire to stay here, however I was quickly cut off when she put her index finger to my lips, silently telling me to shut up.

Unable to refuse her, I succumbed to her offer, finding myself being dragged towards downtown Teignmouth. I looked around, half hoping that no one else noticed me being dragged off campus; thankfully, no one seemed to be watching.

Except for the hurt expression of Dominic Howard, that is.

* * *

 

 _Fuck him. Fuck_ her. _They could fucking fuck each other, for all I care!_

I silently watched Matt’s interaction with Emily unfold before my eyes, with an intense feeling of hatred burning inside me. Matt’s inability to respond to my earlier statement, _and_ his attempt to brush it off, sent me into a state of anger – but now, with Emily fucking Thompson deciding to steal _him_ away from me, I was sent spiralling into another fucking _dimension_ of anger.

I wasn’t expecting Matt to date me, by any means; but I was hoping that I’d be the only one to spend quality time with him. I was _expecting_ it; no one liked the stupid fool enough to hang out with him!

Those hopes were crushed when Emily came into the picture. She was notorious for carelessly flinging herself at random guys in Teignmouth, especially those who went to the Academy. When I first came to Teignmouth, she attempted to seduce me with her charms; thankfully, Tom decided to step in between us and tell her that I wasn’t interested, filling me in on her ‘tactics’ once she’d disappeared from my life.

I thought that she’d decided to take a break from her antics, until she decided to take Matt for a ‘date’, that is.

_Fucking hell, Dom! You could’ve been the one to break those two up! You could’ve been Matt’s hero, had you saved him from such an uncomfortable situation!_

On the bright side, knowing Matt, he probably wouldn’t end up catching feelings; he was rather hard to please. And, judging by his reaction when she first introduced herself to him, he didn’t have a keen first impression of her, either.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I made my way into the building, trying to ignore the constant rumbling that my stomach produced. Unsure of where to go, I stood in the school’s main hallway; prior to Matt’s arrival, I would usually follow Tom around, whether it be to the pier or to pick on one of his poor targets, but that was not an option anymore.

I found myself wandering down a rather familiar hallway, however I couldn’t quite recall _why_ this particular hallway stood out to me so much. I knew this school like the back of my hand, but I didn’t get such a strong feeling of nostalgia while walking through the other hallways – even the ones near my favourite classes didn’t seem to interest me as much as this corridor. 

Then I caught sight of a locker that was slightly dented, and was covered in sticky notes and various pieces of paper; admittedly, my heart dropped a bit once I figured out its owner, my strong feelings for this particular hallway suddenly making sense. 

_Matt. Matt. Matt. Matt. Matt._

His name raced through my mind as I sprinted towards his locker, trying to take a better look at the slander written on the sticky notes; it appeared as if someone had taken some sort of sticky-note gun and blasted his locker door with it. This was definitely Tom’s doing – however, it seemed like he got the entire school to help him out with this little stint.

As unlikely as it seemed, my mood got even worse once I started reading the content written on the sticky notes, Tom’s voice echoing in my mind.

_Posh fag. Go back to Cambridge, people are more than willing to suck your cock there._

_Make sure you’re free Saturday @ noon. We’ll all be there to fuck you up, Bellamy._

I gave up on reading the notes once I read the summons to the pier and immediately started tearing the messages down, my eyes welling with tears. Matt didn’t deserve this. Tom had gone way too far with pasting the messages on his locker door, free for the entire school to behold. 

Now, I wanted nothing but to burn all the messages in a bonfire. And maybe throw Tom and his crew in there as well, while I’m at it. 

Seething with rage, I tore the last of the sticky notes off of his locker and started stomping on them, not giving two fucks about how much noise I was making. I wanted those messages to _burn._ I wanted all the written taunts and insults to turn into ashes; I wanted them to be kept away from the curious eyes of the rest of the school. More importantly, I wanted them to be kept away from _Matt._  

My plans were put to an abrupt halt by the coincidental arrival of the devil himself, Tom Kirk.

“Oi! Dom! What do you think you’re doing?!” Tom sprinted down the hallway, accompanied by Morgan and Simon. Shocked, I quickly kicked the pile of stickies, in hopes that the force would scatter them, and quickly turned to run away from the group, sprinting towards the nearest exit.

“Dom! I asked you a question!” Tom shrieked, catching up to me with minimal effort; he’d always been the better sprinter out of us two. Angry, he quickly grabbed me and yanked me back, shoving me into a locker door. He kept me pinned against the door, waiting for Morgan and Simon to catch up; after a few seconds, they finally arrived, panting.

“N-Nothing,” I stammered, my eyes wide with fear. _Matt, it’s moments like these where I wish I had your personality._

“Awwh, but we saw you, Dommy-boy,” Simon cooed, approaching me with a sneer. “You were tearing down the nice messages we left on your boyfriend’s locker, the ones that we put up just this morning.”

I gulped and nodded, waiting for Tom to inflict his ‘punishment’ on me.

“I thought we were going to get along,” Tom said, with mock disappointment. “I guess you and your boyfriend are just inseparable,” he finished, causing the other two to giggle and clap him on the back.

“He’s not my b-boyfriend,” I gasped, attempting to wriggle free from Tom’s grip, much to the amusement of the group. 

“Aw, is that so?” Tom asked, looking back at Morgan and Simon; the two nodded at him, and the pair looked at me in earnest.  
  
“Let’s see if we can summon him and test the validity of that statement, Dom,” Tom sneered, raising a fist. “Remember, _I don’t like it when people mess with my plans._ Regardless of our past, you are _not_ an exception to that rule. _”_

Closing my eyes, I attempted to brace myself for the onslaught of pain that was to follow, fully knowing that I wouldn’t be getting any help from Matt in my current situation.

 _The things I do for you, Matt,_ I thought, as the first blow was delivered to my stomach, a wave of intense pain washing over me.

* * *

“So, what do you do in your spare time?”

Emily and I had grabbed lunch at a fish and chips in downtown Teignmouth, and were now relaxing at the Grand Pier; thankfully, Tom and his goons were nowhere to be seen, and she was making surprisingly pleasant company. She hadn’t decided to annoy me with a bunch of stupid actions and dialogue choices, like Dominic had done when we first met. I’d missed this kind of small talk; the reintroduction of it into my life instantly removed all stress that I was currently feeling.  
  
“I play the guitar,” I shrugged, chomping on my meal. “Other than that, I don’t really do much,” I continued, deciding to leave out information about my conspiracy theories.

“You play the guitar? That’s cool,” Emily replied, smiling. “There’s a load of people here that have decided to start bands. Have you considered joining a band?”

My mind instantly shot back to Dominic’s offer and the hope in his eyes once he’d found out that I played the guitar, and his deflated expression once I’d declined his offer. I cringed at the memory, wishing that I’d treated him with a bit more respect; I also had some second thoughts about denying his offer. Now, the prospect of joining a band seemed pretty sweet; it’d probably do wonders to my abysmal social life.  
  
“Uh, I’ve gotten an offer,” I admitted, wiping my hands on my trousers. “I was stupid and declined, though.”  
  
“Who offered you to join their band?” Emily asked, raising an eyebrow. “Was it that blonde guy that served as our third wheel?”

“Yeah, it was,” I responded, surprised; then the second part of her statement hit me hard. “Wait, _third wheel?_ What do you mean by that?” I asked, rather shocked at the comparison.

Emily huffed in response. “He got in the way.”

“In the way of what?”  
  
“Our _bonding,_ Matty,” Emily cooed, immediately moving closer to me. Unsure of how to react, I shifted backwards a bit, trying to break any contact that was present between us.

“A bit forward there, aren’t we?” I smiled, trying not to offend her. “But you really shouldn’t worry about Dominic, he’s nothing, really.”  
  
“Oh?” Emily asked, pursing her lips. “Why were you so keen on spending lunch with him, then?”

“He’s pretty much the only mate I have here,” I admitted, running my hands through my hair. “Hence why I’m keen on spending a lot of time with him. He’s the only guy here that doesn’t try to beat me up upon seeing me.”

“I can change that,” Emily giggled, looking at me with an intense look in her eyes. “Matt, all you have to do is spend more time with me. I’ll make you look and _feel_ like a god. I’ll have the entire school bow down at your feet, I’ll even have _Tom_ respect you-”  
  
“Thanks, but no thanks,” I responded, desperately trying to keep a smile on my face. Having the entire school respect me was a feeling that I was longing for, however I wasn’t going to rely on the likes of Emily in order to get me the respect that I craved.  
  
“But you look so miserable all the time,” she pouted. “I’ve seen you in English-”  
  
“So you have,” I interrupted, my mood starting to worsen. “Despite that, I don’t need any help with my current situation,” I added, starting to get up and take my leave. I’d had enough of the conversation, and did not like where it was heading.

“Get the fuck back here!” Emily growled, taking a hold of my wrist and forcefully dragging me back to the bench that we were lounging on.

Confused, I stared at her, surprised at her sudden change in demeanour.

“I’ll cut the bullshit and get to the point, Matty,” she said, her voice taking on a suddenly seductive tone. “If you want to stay safe from Tom and his crew, you are going to date me, your preferences be damned.”

“Uh, no, I’m not,” I said, wrenching myself free from her grip and staring at her with an incredulous look. “I’m not going to fucking date _anyone_ in this stupid town, let alone someone I’d only met an hour ago!”

“Yes, you are,” Emily snarled, grabbing my tie and pulling me closer. “If you don’t, I’ll be sure to let Tom know where you live.”

“Classic, like I haven’t heard that one before,” I chuckled, attempting to free my tie from her clutches. “I’m pretty sure that you don’t know where I live.”

 “You live with your Nan, right, Matt?”

“Yeah, I do. That doesn’t give you any clue about where I live, though.”

“And if I’m correct, your Nan would be Alice Bellamy, no?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. I stared at her in shock, wondering why the hell she knew who my grandmother was.  
  
“Everyone in this town knows each other, Matt,” Emily continued, as if she was reading my thoughts. “There’s only one other Bellamy in this town, and that’s Alice.”

“Anyways, I could easily get her address by asking around,” she said, pulling me closer. “And I’d have some excuse prepared too; no one would bat an eye at an innocent girl who wants to give out some cookies, no?”

I gulped and stared at her in horror, unable to respond to her ‘master plan’. Not only did I have Tom’s physical beatings to worry about, I also had to worry about some sort of deal that I stupidly had gotten myself into. I didn’t want to find out about the consequences that would follow, if Tom managed to get a hold of my address.  
  
“You wouldn’t,” was all I could manage. My wits had left me as soon as she’d outlined the details of her plan, as well as all the smartassery I was used to showing.  
  
“Yes, I would,” Emily replied, smirking. She pulled on my tie, instantly constricting me.

“How fucking desperate are you for a boyfriend?” I sputtered, trying not to cough in her face; despite the current situation, I still attempted to have a shred of decency.  
  
“Seeing as every other guy in this town kinda ignores me,” Emily pouted _(damn, she enjoys exaggerating everything she says),_ loosening her grip on my tie. “Then I’m kinda desperate. Though I enjoy the chase more than everything else. Besides, who could deny those beautiful blue eyes of yours?”

“Quite a few people.” _Like every girl that rejected me back in Cambridge._

“Not me,” Emily said, grinning and letting go of my tie. “Anyways, shall we get going back to school? As a couple?” Her tone yielded nothing but kindness, but her facial expression screamed _you better say yes, otherwise you’re being castrated._

I stared at her in amazement, wondering how in bloody hell someone’s mood can shift that fast. Choosing not to reply to her question, I got up and dusted the remnants of my lunch off of my trousers, and immediately started to make my way back to the school. 

My attempts were cut off by Emily pulling me back for the umpteenth time, however this time, my confused gaze was not met by an unsettling glare, but a kind smile. 

“Let’s hold hands, yeah? And please, try and _act_ like you’re into the entire relationship thing.”

* * *

The rest of the day took forever to pass by, various thoughts of Dominic and Emily clouding my mind. So, after a pair of long, tedious, classes, I was standing at the front of the school, waiting for Dominic to show up and accompany me home. We’d have a lot of shit to talk about, with my entire Emily dilemma being on the forefront.

After the dismissal bell finally rung, it didn’t take long for Dominic to come bounding out of the school doors, covered in various bruises that I swore weren’t present when we’d first got to the school.

“Dominic,” I gasped, trying to get a better look at his bruises. “Jesus tit-fucking Christ, what the fuck happened to you when I wasn’t around?”

“Why are you asking, you probably don’t give a shit,” Dominic said, his voice weak. He rubbed his eyes, as if he was attempting to stop an onslaught of tears.

“Just because I didn’t respond to earlier’s bombshell doesn’t mean that I don’t care,” I protested, trying to pray his hands away from his face. “Let me guess, did Tom come after you again?”

Dominic managed to nod in response, a few tears falling from his eyes.

“Matt, I’m so fucking pathetic. I couldn’t stand up to him, unlike you.”

“It’s fine, Dominic,” I soothed, rubbing his back in response. “Let’s just head home and watch some shit telly, yeah?”

“Yeah, that’d be nice,” Dominic responded, rubbing the offensive tears away. “Though why are you being all nice all of a sudden? Are you atoning for something?”

“Matty, love! Nice to see you out here!” 

Dominic eyes widened in response and took a look at the person approaching us, as I shut my eyes and silently cursed.

_Shit. No. Not now. Not in front of Dominic._

“I was looking for you in the main hall,” Emily giggled, while putting her arm around my shoulder, leaving Dominic in shock. “I wanted to give you a little gift before you left!”

“Which is?” I asked, plastering a forced smile onto my face, much to Dominic’s disgust.  
  
“My number,” she chirped, before slapping a small piece of paper into my hands. “Text me when you can, yeah?” Upon handing me her number, she immediately turned to Dominic, her expression giving off a hint of disgust.

“Dommy, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?” she asked, her voice taking on a darker tone. “You’ve got yourself some fine company here, shame that the others don’t see him as _we_ do, right?”

“Yeah, it’s been a while, _Emily_ ,” Dominic responded, jaw clenching, his hands balling into tight fists. “Glad to see that you’ve found yourself a new _mate.”_

“He’s truly a wonderful bloke,” Emily winked, while planting a quick kiss on my cheek; I immediately went beet red and managed a shy smile, making Dominic stare at me in anger.  
  
“Well, I’ll see you whenever, Matt,” Emily said, starting to take her leave. “Don’t forget to text me, yeah?”

Before she ran off to join her group of lackeys, she came up close to me and whispered a little warning.  
  
“You fucking better, our deal still stands.”

On that happy note, she left, leaving me with a beyond-angry Dominic, who looked like he was about to turn into a reincarnation of Tom, judging on the wild look he was currently giving me.

“Dominic-”

“Don’t bother,” he snapped, trembling. “It all makes sense now, you stupid, fucking, good-for-nothing-”

“Shut up,” I pleaded, approaching him. “I can explain, Dom, I swear-”

“Oh, what’s your explanation, Matt? _‘I wanted to find someone else to fuck so that you can leave me alone’?_ You’d only met her this lunch, yet you two are _madly_ in love-”  
  
“Dom, it really isn’t what it looks like,” I growled, my hands balling into fists as well.

“Is that so?” Dom challenged, smirking. “Is there another guy in on this as well?”

“No, you fucking pillock!” I yelled, grabbing the fool by the shoulders. Why couldn’t he just shut up and _listen?_

“I’m willing to bet my money on _two_ guys, then,” Dom yelled, leaving me to hope that no heads would turn and examine the ongoing commotion. “Anyone but me, right Matt?”  
  
“Dom, no-” 

“And what’s up with you calling me ‘Dom’, anyways?” He screamed, wrenching free from my grip. “Do you think that _you_ using my nickname makes everything feel better?”

“I swear, Dom, just let me explain-”

“Fuck you,” Dom whispered, as he backed away from where I was currently standing. “Tom was right, huh? You really are a shithead.”

“Please, just-”

“I’m done with you,” Dom declared, as he started to make his way towards the main road. “And for me to think that I saw anything _good_ in you…”

He left his statement incomplete, as he sprinted home, leaving me to observe him from the school’s front steps. Despite my non-romantic feelings about him, there was something about what he said that hurt me more than I would’ve expected; hell, if someone like Chris and come up to me and told me that I was a shitty person, I would’ve just shrugged it off and hope that he was in a better mood in the days to follow…

But with Dom, there was something different about the way he delivered his sentiments.

Whatever it was, it definitely fucking _hurt._


	8. Chapter 8

It’d been a couple of hours since my little fallout with Dom, and I was feeling worse and worse with every passing minute. I’d managed to replace my only friend in this dammed town with a borderline crazy girl who insisted on holding contact with me 24/7… it wasn’t a really good trade-off, if you ask me. 

For the time being, I was trying my best to focus on other things. I’d decided to put the government research aside – it wouldn’t be as fun if I didn’t have a person that I could spout random facts to – and pick up my guitar, brushing up on old techniques that I’d previously learned, attempting to learn a few songs in the process.

The guitar had come as a nice Christmas present from my Mum and Dad, who’d decided to spend Christmas Break with Paul and I (which was already a Christmas miracle in itself, to be honest). It was probably the most memorable Christmas that I’d experienced; a typical Christmas for me involved the family getting together for a night, only for the purpose of making holiday cards and other memorabilia. There were little to no Christmas presents involved… until last Christmas, that is. A Christmas that was special for all parties involved.

God, I missed my parents. Even though I tended to berate them at times for being lousy parental figures in Paul and I’s life, I missed them. Now that I think about it, spending time with them in various European countries would beat living in lonely ol’ Teignmouth.

I hadn’t realized it until I found myself lacking people I trusted.

Yeah, there was Nan to consider; however I didn’t really trust her with my problems after her nonchalant response to the entire Tom issue. Other than Nan, there was Dom, but there was no way in hell that I’d go to him. Not now.

Being lonely sucked. 

I attempted to play the riff I was currently learning – a riff ripped straight from a Hendrix song – however I was no longer in the mood for it, my previous thoughts ruining my mindset. Sighing, I turned off the amp and set my guitar aside; I then proceeded to pace around my room, wondering what I could do. Homework wasn’t an issue; I’d failed to gather homework from English and Physics, and my last two classes yielded no work.

I took a glance at my mobile, which was sitting on my nightstand; it was taunting me, calling out to me. A crumpled up piece of paper sat next to it, and it seemed to be doing the same.

_“Don’t forget to text me, yeah?”_

Silently cursing, I picked up the piece of paper and my mobile, entering the number into my contact list. Hey, when she was tame she wasn’t too bad of a person. Her company would beat the company of silence, anyways.

Dialling Emily’s number, I sat on my bed, heart pounding. I know she told me to text her… but calling her wouldn’t kill anyone, right?

_I hope not._

“Matt! I told you to text me!” Emily cried through the receiver, causing me to wince at the intensity of her greeting. I could hear faint voices in the background, coupled with intense laughter and some other background noise, only signalling one thing: she was out and about with her group of friends.

“Hello to you too,” I managed, trying to sound as upbeat as possible. “Maybe you’d enjoy being called as opposed to being texted? I’m not sure, I’m new to this entire thing.”

“I can tell,” Emily responded, giggling. “We can make do though, it’s no worry at all.”  
  
“Yeah. So, what’s up?”  
  
“I’m hanging out at the Grand Pier’s arcade with a couple of my mates. Want to join us, Matty?”

I had nothing to do at home, so joining Emily at the arcade was a bit tempting. However, I didn’t feel like heading out today; I lacked energy to head out and socialize with other people, after what happened earlier today.

“Thanks, but no thanks. I feel like staying home tonight.”

“Aw, that’s too bad. What about our deal, though?”

“Seriously, it’s only been a few hours since, uh, yeah,” I gulped, not liking the thin ice I was currently treading on. “Can I catch a little break?”

There was a brief moment of silence on the other side of the line, save for the restless chattering of Emily’s friends.

“Yeah. Sure. Whatever.” Emily replied, disappointment evident in her voice.

“I-I’ll make it up to you, Emily,” I offered, trying my best to sound reassuring. “Come on, I called you when you were just expecting a text; isn’t that somewhat awesome?”  
  
“I guess so. But you better make up for it _somehow,”_ she added, giggling. “Use that super high income of yours to get me a nice, sophisticated gift, perhaps?”

I sighed in frustration and held my head in my hands, not wanting our already-abysmal relationship to become even more corrupted with the mention of money. However, knowing the tight situation I was currently in, I couldn’t afford (no pun intended) to put Emily in a bad mood.

“Fine, sure,” I replied, my voice tightening. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Thanks, I’m glad I won’t have to,” Emily responded, seeming nonchalant about the entire matter.

I said nothing to that in response.

“Anyways, I’d better get going, we’re all about to head out and get ice cream. Sure you don’t want to join us?”

“No, I don’t,” I responded, tone firm. “See you whenever, Emily.”

Without waiting for her response, I hung up, feeling considerably worse than before. Not only was I going to be constantly reminded about this stupid deal, I had to fork over a wad of cash for a person I had absolutely no interest in. Life sure was strange, huh? 

“Matthew?” 

I opened my bedroom door to reveal the smiling figure of Nan, who seemed enthralled about something. She was grinning and twiddling her fingers, and was practically bouncing on the spot. 

“Hey, Nan,” I greeted, trying to keep a smile on my face. “What’s new?”

“Nothing, really,” Nan replied, practically beaming. “I was wondering if you’d like to head downtown? We could spend a night out at the Grand Pier, just like the olden days.”

I had to admit that the idea of going out to the pier with someone other than Emily seemed quite appealing at the moment. Sure, there was Tom to worry about, as always, but who cared? Nan would be there to witness any conflict that would take place between us; she’d act as my protector, in a way.

“Yeah, that’d be great,” I replied, giving off a genuine smile.

“I’m glad you think so, dear,” Nan replied, rubbing my back. “We’ll leave in about an hour, yeah? Be sure to get ready.” 

I nodded and watched as she left the room, shutting the door behind her once she’d left. I sighed and leaned against the wall, suddenly fearing the decision that I’d made.

If Tom wasn’t the one to beat me senseless, Emily would. She’d be in the general area and definitely rat me out for not wanting to spend time at the pier with her. Not a particularly pretty scenario.

_Ah, Matt, why do you even care? She’ll be over the entire relationship shindig in a few days, it’s not she’s it’s going to kill you._

Shaking my head, I started to get ready for the upcoming evening, now somewhat relieved that I’d be able to get some breathing room in this stupid town. With the entire Dom fiasco that was happening, and my new situation with Emily, winding down was on the forefront on my mind. 

_Please, just let me walk around Teignmouth without any problems. That’d be the best thing to happen to me since arriving at this hellhole._

* * *

“How do you like it, Matthew? It looks nice during the sunset, doesn’t it?”  
  
“Yeah, it does. Thanks for taking me out here, Nan. It really means a lot.”

Nan and I were taking a nice, laid-back stroll near the Grand Pier, eating some subs and enjoying the calm weather. It was surprisingly quiet during this time of day. Not many tourists (or obnoxious groups of teenagers) were out and about; instead, the pier was ruled by the squawking of seagulls coupled with the soft lap of waves against the shore.

I took a deep breath and took a moment to admire the sight of the sea. I’d seen it before – after the first day of school, I was doing the exact same thing, however I was interrupted by the appearance of Tom – but it didn’t fail to impress me. The way that the sun made the waves look like they were glistening, and the occasional yacht that disrupted the calmness of the sea, made the scene look like it was taken out from a movie.

Breathing in the coast’s scent, I closed my eyes and smiled. The words _seaside paradise_ were beginning to make sense for me, all because of this one sight. Never would I have assumed that I’d start to like Teignmouth, even after the locals insisted on singling me out.

“You’ve never been this peaceful,” Nan pointed out, greeting me with a warm smile. “It’s nice to see you smiling. Your happiness makes your old Nan happy as well.”

“This is what I needed, it’s been a long day,” I replied, stretching. “Especially after what happened last night.”

“Well, to be honest, I’m still a bit confused about that spontaneous research night,” Nan said, looking at me with curious eyes. “I thought that you and Dominic hated each other?”

“Long story,” I said, cracking a slight smile. “But, uh, we’re good now, I suppose.” It was a lie, but I didn’t need Nan to know about our little problem.

We continued to walk in silence, with Nan simply _mhm_ -ing in response. Pulling my sights away from the seaside, I took a look around the boardwalk, scanning the horizons for any trace of Emily or Tom.

Thankfully, there weren’t any signs of the two, leaving me to continue admiring the sights in peace.

“You weren’t always this peaceful when I took you to the pier,” Nan started, chuckling. “You and your brother would always chase the seagulls around, not caring about anything that got in your way.”

“Yeah?” I asked, chuckling. Trying to imagine a younger version of myself chasing seagulls… man, that seemed rather embarrassing.

“Paul would always feed them bread, making sure that they were all looked after. Want to know what you did, Matthew?” 

“Definitely, I want to know how cringe-inducing I was as a child.”

“Cringe-inducing? I would personally call it cute,” Nan giggled, causing me to blush like a maid. “After Paul would feed the seagulls, you would go up to them and try to pick them up. You’d fail, of course.”

“Oh, that’s, uh, well, weird,” I replied, scratching my head. _Not only do I suck at picking up chicks, but I also suck at picking up birds._

“Not only that,” Nan continued, voice picking up with excitement. “Every time you failed at your task, you’d grab the bread from Paul and put it at your feet. If the seagulls were in the mood, they would flock around you, and you’d stand in the middle of the ring pretending that you were their king. It drove Paul mad.”

The image of a younger me being praised by seagulls sent me into a small giggle fit, causing me to choke on a piece of my sandwich.

After I had finished choking on the offensive piece of bread, I stared at it, my eyes widening with every passing second.

 _Ah, fuck it. You don’t get to do this every day._

“Watch this, Nan,” I told Nan, pulling on her arm.

Grinning, I ripped a piece of bread off of my sub and tossed it to the nearest flock of seagulls, watching them as they swarmed over the piece of bread. The frantic squawking and fluttering was enough to turn a few heads, leaving them to wonder which maniac was crazy enough to throw the birds a piece of bread. Those who stared at me in question were met with a crazy grin. _I’d never felt this good during my stay in Teignmouth, let me have my fun!_

All of the stress from earlier had faded away and was replaced with good feelings. There was a certain warmth that spread through my body like wildfire: the kind of warmth that was felt after a fun day with my Academy mates, or after I’d gotten high scores on a test, or after I’d spent time with someone who was a significant figure in my life. It felt that I was on a natural high. Nothing could stop me at this point; those who wanted to could try, but they’d fail miserable.

Laughing, my eyes darted from the pile of seagulls to the locals that were walking around the commotion, sending out a silent challenge; _‘someone try and put me down, I fucking dare you’._

After what seemed like an eternity of feeding birds and dying of laughter, a certain sighting of two people answered my silent challenge, causing me to freeze in place and come close to dropping my sandwich.

“Matthew?” Nan said, noticing my agitated state. She rubbed my back and looked at me, eyes filled with worry. “Is everything alright?”

My response came out in a jumble, causing Nan to voice several other concerns, however I couldn’t respond to them.

My eyes (and mind) were busy focusing on the sight of Tom Kirk and Dominic Howard, who were currently lounging on a pair of posts and watching me with curious gazes.

* * *

“Tom, he’s staring at us, what now?”

I fidgeted nervously, shooting quick glances between Tom and Matt. I hadn’t expected him to see him at the pier – I’d just assumed that he’d be off at home, texting Emily or researching his government conspiracy theories.

However, much to my surprise (and Tom’s), the wanker decided to come out to the pier, flanked by his Nan, of all people. And here he was, feeding seagulls like an idiotic seven year old, seeming completely at ease with the shitshow that his life currently was. _Damn, did I really fall for this goof?_

“Come on Dommy, he’s got nothing on you. Keep on watching,” Tom grinned, clapping me on the back. I’d decided to give Tom a call after the entire Matt/Emily thing blew up, wanting to hang out with him and start on a clear slate. Thankfully, he accepted my offer with open arms, suggesting that we head out to the pier and grab a drink or two.

It didn’t take long for us to spot Matt, who looked absolutely carefree. Was he unaware of how he made me feel this afternoon? Was he unaware of feelings that weren’t his?

By the looks of it, it seemed like it. And I hated him for it, the stupid idiot who had no regard for feelings other than his own… 

“Oi, Dom!” Tom exclaimed, clapping. “You’re lost in thought again.”

“Yeah,” I said, keeping my gaze trained on Matt. “I am.”  
  
“Come on,” Tom whined, taking a swig of his soda. “Matt isn’t worth shit. Don’t tell me that you’re going to fight me on this statement, Dom, because if you do, I’ll fucking-”

“I get it,” I interrupted, holding my hands up. “Calm yourself, Tom.”

Tom didn’t respond, which left me to continue observing Matt in disbelief. After exchanging a few words with his Nan, he continued to toss bread at the flock of seagulls, seeming a lot more agitated than before.

“Wow,” Tom yawned, getting up to throw his bottle of soda away. “What an autistic fag. Who fucking feeds seagulls at our age?”

“Uh, I do, sometimes,” I admitted, rather sheepishly.

“Then you’re an autistic fag too,” Tom declared, staring at me with an intense gaze.

Sighing, I held my hands to my head, wondering why I was in league with a person like Tom. As much as I hate to admit it, Matt was right – I had the entire concept of friendship screwed up.

_Oh well, Tom’s the only one in this town that’s willing to hang out with you. Be thankful, Dom._

“Did I hurt your feelings, Dom?” Tom asked, giving me a quizzical look. “It’s just banter, perk up lad. You weren’t like this before.”

“Tom, I’m still a bit unhappy about this afternoon-”

“Big fucking deal,” Tom interrupted, stretching. “Don’t worry mate, you’re under _my_ wings now.”

“Even after what happened this week?” I asked him, replaying the multiple scenes at the pier.

Tom nodded in response and stared at me in disbelief, as if I’d gone and dyed my hair a repulsive colour.  
  
“Bloody hell, Dom,” Tom cursed. “Just forget about the shit I did to you when you were with Matt, alright?”

“Alright, but why the hell are you so agitated over this?” I inquired, staring at Tom with a dangerous look. “You were never one to apologize about-”

“Shut up,” Tom pleaded, silently telling me to drop the matter. Grumbling, I turned my attention back to Matt’s feeding efforts, my mixed emotions of love and hatred returning in full force.  
  
“So, uh,” I offered, breaking the silence. “Seagulls?” I gestured to Matt, who was kneeling amongst his flock of seagulls, much to his Nan’s pleasure. He seemed to be smiling; however every now and then he’d shoot nervous glances towards Tom and I.

Tom nodded and we watched the show continue on. After a few minutes, Matt finally ran out of bread to toss to the flock, which caused Matt to exchange some more word with his Nan – probably asking her if they could go and get more bread. The two then left the pier, as I’d expected, leaving the seagulls to squawk in displeasure; I’d assumed that they’d gone to get more bread, however their failure to return in fifteen minutes suggested otherwise.

“Show’s over,” I pointed out, hopping off the post. “What now?”

“What an anticlimactic end,” Tom yawned, following my lead and dusting off his trousers. “Time to do something fun.”

“That vocabulary choice,” I grinned, causing Tom to roll his eyes and lightly punch me in response. “Nice.” 

“There’s a reason why I plan on majoring in English,” Tom replied, smirking.

“Anyways, what do you intend on doing ‘for fun’?” I asked, hoping that we’d get the chance to head out to the arcade. Playing a few rigged games never failed to put me in good spirits; I needed to clear my mind of Matt and everything that had happened today. 

“Don’t fucking know,” Tom shrugged, starting to walk away from the pier. “Do you drink? I can head home and steal some stuff from my parents’ liquor cabinet.”  
  
“You know that I don’t usually drink,” I started, following Tom. “Though I wouldn’t mind having some booze to help clear my mind, y’know?”

“Brilliant,” Tom said, turning back to smile at me. “Once we’re done, we could head back to the pier or something. Play a few arcade games pissed up – that’d be fun.”

“Don’t think that we’d be allowed in the arcade with beer,” I pointed out, not entirely sure where Tom was going with this.  
  
“We’ll drink before we enter,” Tom started, pausing to consider his options. “You know what, Dom?”

“What?” 

“Fuck beer. Let’s ramp up the fun-ness level by five hundred percent.” 

“By doing…?”

“Stronger liquor,” Tom said, turning back to me, a mad glitter in his eyes. “I’ll see if my parents have strong rum in the back of their cabinet.” He turned around to resume his journey home, picking up a brisk pace.  
  
The idea of drinking something stronger than beer seemed a bit suspicious to me, however I just sighed in response and decided to follow Tom. He’d been rather nice to me this evening, surely he didn’t intend on doing anything bad while we were pissed up, right?

 _Whatever,_ I thought, picking up my pace. The only way that we’d mend our friendship is to put trust in each other; that’s what I was going to do.

* * *

“Oh my fucking God, Tom,” I groaned, setting my cup down on the post and crumpling it in the process. “I’m done.”

It hadn’t taken long for Tom to head out and get his desired booze, which was a rather elegant looking bottle of Bacardi. Upon obtaining the drink, he flashed the label to me, saying that it was ‘one of the strongest drinks out there’ and claiming that we’d have a grand time upon consuming it.  
  
“That was your first cup,” Tom pointed out, hiccupping. “You can’t be _that_ pissed up.”

“Well, unlike you,” I shot back, getting up to refill my crumpled cup. “I don’t drink every time I study for a test.”

“Excuse fucking you?” Tom spat, immediately standing up. “Are you suggesting that my intelligence derives from me being _drunk?”_  
  
“Sure seems like it,” I giggled, lazily swatting at his angry form. “You always would boast to Simon and Morgan, telling them that you drank something before getting high nineties on a test-”

“Big fucking deal,” Tom sputtered, plonking down on the post once again. “You seem to lose your wits when you’re drunk, Dommy, don’t forget that,” he cooed, picking up the bottle of Bacardi and waving it in my face.  
  
“Do not,” I argued, slamming my cup down on the post, causing its contents to spill out onto the pier, some booze dripping into the sea.  
  
“Whoops,” I said, looking at the mess, although the lack of sunlight made it near impossible. “M’sorry fishies, you just got drunk.”  
  
“See what I mean?” Tom asked, raising an eyebrow and passing me the half-empty bottle of rum.

I hiccupped and quickly poured myself another cup. Once done, I took a large swig of the bottle when I was done, the excess liquor running down my chin and soiling my clothes.  
  
“Oi, fuckface!” Tom snarled, lunging for the bottle of rum. “You’re wasting perfectly good booze.”

“Sorry,” I pouted, reluctantly handing the bottle back to Tom and resorting to drinking from my own cup. Tom regarded me with a smile and poured himself more of the drink.  
  
“Do you have Emily’s number?” I blurted out, my drunk self coming up with a plan.

“Emily fucking Thompson?” Tom exclaimed, eyes blowing wide at my question. I nodded in response, shooting him a lazy smile.  
  
“No shit,” Tom breathed, grinning like a madman. “Tell me, why on God’s green earth would you give her a call? Based on what you told me before the entire Matt and seagull thing, she’s busy shagging the tosser.”

“‘M gonna reclaim what’s mine,” I giggled, reaching for Tom’s pocket.

“Matt’s not worth it,” Tom giggled, reaching for his mobile and handing it to me. “But if you’re going to talk to Emily while drunk, I wanna hear. You better put it on speaker, Dommy!”

“Oh, I will,” I assured him, unlocking the mobile and searching for Emily’s number.

It didn’t take long for me to find the desired number, practically mashing the ‘Call’ button upon its discovery. I put the call on speaker and waited for Emily to pick up, giggling uncontrollably. Tom was staring at me intently, and he looked like he was trying not to break out into laughter himself. 

“Tom?” Emily’s voice rang out through the receiver. She sounded thoroughly confused and a bit angry at the call.

“It’s Dom,” I responded, trying my best to sound as angry as possible (in my current state, it was proving to be a tough challenge). “We need to talk.”

“That’s nice,” she purred, putting on that seductive voice that _everyone_ loathed (but, knowing what Matt was doing with her, it probably turned him the fuck _on)._ “What’s up, Dommy?”

“I’m reclaiming Matt,” I said airily, smirking. The sight was enough to send Tom into a fit of laughter, causing me to kick him in an attempt to shut him up.

“What do you mean? He’s mine,” she asked, dropping her fake voice. 

“No, he’s _mine,”_ I growled, sending Tom into another fit of laughter. “I’ll have you know that I shagged him into a mattress this very evening.” 

“What?” Emily asked, her voice breaking. There was silence on the other line, save for heavy breathing.

“…So that’s why he refused to hang out with me this afternoon,” she said, voice quiet.

“Yeah, it’s because he couldn’t resist my fucking dick,” I boasted, sending Tom sprawling into hysterics. The alcohol coursing through my veins was definitely doing its job; I wouldn’t have been _this_ vulgar while sober.

Thankfully, Emily didn’t seem to think I was drunk. _Thank the lucky stars for her stupidness._

“Thanks for the update, Dom,” she said, voice cold. She then proceeded to hang up, causing me to toss Tom’s mobile at his laughing figure, who was writhing on the ground.

“Jesus _fuck,”_ Tom gasped, in between fits of laughter. “I don’t approve of you and Matt together, but bloody hell, that was fucking _hilarious.”_

“Serves that bitch right,” I said, rubbing my hands on my trousers, Tom’s disapproval soaring over my head. “Damn, that felt fucking amazing.”

Tom nodded and got up, coughing in the process. We managed to sober up for a bit, allowing us to clumsily mash our cups together in an attempt at ‘cheers’.  
  
“‘M telling you, Dom,” Tom gasped, trying to regain his composure. “You have no fucking wits when you’re drunk.”

“Still would like to think otherwise,” I hiccupped, trying to gulp down more of my drink. The phone call was a small victory in my little battle with Emily, and would lead to bigger victories in the future.

Matt was _mine,_ and it would stay that way until the end of time. 

* * *

Nan and I had gotten back home a bit after dark, after running out of bread to feed the seagulls. Along the way, we stopped at several shops, Nan taking the opportunity to introduce me to some of her friends. I’ve got to admit, her friends were extremely nice – which made me wonder why I based the personality of Teignmouth off of a few douchebags that I had met at school. 

I loved every bit of our little seaside excursion. Well, except for that bit where I had spotted Dom and Tom watching me feed seagulls – a rather questionable sight. Why was Dom hanging out with Tom once again? It would undoubtedly end in something bad happening to him – but I wouldn’t be free to save him once again. Sneaking out two nights in a row was a bit of a risk, and he wasn’t able to call for my help, considering that he didn’t have my number. Not like he’d call me for help anymore, anyways…

Now, I had dedicated the rest of my evening to winding down. I was just playing the guitar, repeating a chord progression that I had recently come up with, when my mobile rang.

Excited, I sprang up and went to check it, expecting the caller to be Chris or Paul. I hadn’t talked to either in a while, and it would be nice to tell them about Teignmouth and all it had to offer.

However, the caller was not Chris or Paul. Admittedly, my heart dropped once I saw who was calling me. Reluctant, I accepted the call, my heart practically beating out of my chest.

“Uh, hello?” I greeted, not sure about what _she’d_ want at this time of day.

“MATT?!” Emily screamed, nearly blowing out my eardrum. She was audibly upset, but why? I hadn’t seen her at the pier this evening, so her anger was rather unjustified. Unless she’d wanted her gift as soon as possible, however that was another unlikely scenario; she couldn’t be _that_ stuck up.  
  
“Chill, you’re going to make me go deaf,” I pleaded, wincing. “Anyways, what’s up?”

“We have to fucking talk,” she snarled, before starting to retell a story that I wasn’t familiar with, my eyes widening as she went on to speak about how I had allegedly ‘rejected her company’ because I was too busy ‘shagging Dominic – who, by the way, called me to boast about what you two did together’.

 _Fucking hell, Dominic – not only am I in deep shit, but_ you’re _going to be in deep shit as well._


	9. Chapter 9

Last night’s phone conversation with Emily left me with a bitter taste in my mouth. Not only was I angry at the way our conversation had gone, I was also angry at Dom, the idiot who decided it would be absolutely fucking _hilarious_ to spread false rumours about him and I.

So, I decided to take advantage of the weekend (and my lack of things to do) and put him in his proper place.

Shortly after lunch, I found myself standing in front of the Howards’ front door, bearing nothing but my anger. Nervous, I looked around, hoping that no one would be around to see the different kinds of pain that I was going to inflict on Dominic – I didn’t want to explain the current situation to anybody, nor did I want others to know that I was secretly ‘shagging’ Dom.

Gulping, I knocked on the front door – three hard, sharp knocks – and waited expectantly for a response.

I’m not sure what unnerved me more – the fact that I was about to beat the piss out of Dominic, or the fact that Dom’s mother answered the door. Dom had made sure to tell me that his parents didn’t like me, therefore getting him out of the house would be a lot more difficult.  
  
“Matthew Bellamy?” She exclaimed, eyes widening in surprise. “What are _you_ doing here?”

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Howard,” I started, offering a polite smile. “Mind if I hang out with Dominic for a bit?”

My question seemed to put Mrs. Howard off, as she just stared at me with a blank look. Hoping that she’d grant permission for me to be with her son, I widened my smile and put my hands behind my back, seeming to seem like a nice guy. Well, in truth, I _was_ a nice guy – until someone messed with me.

“He’s not feeling too well,” she said flatly. “Come back another day.” She then proceeded to slam the door shut, however I stopped it by shoving my foot in between the door and the frame. It hurt like a bitch – but I wanted to see Dominic today. Hell, I _needed_ to see him today.

Steaming with anger, Mrs. Howard opened the door once again, staring at me with an incredulous look.

“May I ask why?” I inquired, trying to keep a smile on my face, despite the throbbing pain in my foot.

“He woke up with a horrible headache. The fact that he was vomiting everywhere didn’t help his case at all,” Mrs. Howard explained, her voice becoming softer as she was describing her poor son’s current state. “I’m not entirely sure about what he has, whether it’s a bug or a virus, or a really weird case of the flu. Regardless, he’s not fit to go out today.”

Okay… so he was sick. I probably couldn’t lay a beating down on him when he wasn’t feeling at his best. That would just be low and on the levels of Tom; whatever I did, I would _not_ stoop down to his level. 

“I understand,” I replied, trying to act pitiful. “You wouldn’t mind if I went up to his room to talk to him, right?”

“Why?” she asked, reverting back to her sceptical side. “Can’t it wait?”  
  
“‘Fraid not,” I shrugged. I stared at her expectantly, waiting for her response.

Mrs. Howard studied me with curious eyes, trying to determine the reasons for my visit. Sighing, she told me to wait at the front door and turned to face her house’s interior, sending out a message to her husband: Matthew Bellamy was going to see their son and engage in ‘friendly’ conversation.

“Come in,” she said begrudgingly, signalling for me to enter the home. 

Smiling, I stepped inside the home, taking a good look around, having failed to do so during the ‘dinner party’. Various family pictures and academic awards adorned the walls; all of the certificates, which were for ‘Outstanding Student’ or honour roll, bore Dominic’s name, while all of the family pictures showed one child: Dominic.

_Huh, so Dom’s an only child; he doesn’t have a sibling who went off to uni or whatever. Suddenly all the coddling makes sense. The more you know…_

“Impressive, isn’t it? Our Dominic’s a smart cookie,” Mrs. Howard said, voice swelling with pride. I nodded in response, choosing not to tell her about _my_ academic feats. 

“We’re trying to get him to apply for scholarships to various private schools,” she continued, walking up to examine the certificates hanging on the wall. “Prior to your arrival, he was dead-set on going to Cambridge Academy. That’s why he asked you about it when you first came here,” she explained, her statement hitting me with a strange pang of sadness. 

_Dom at the Academy? I haven’t seen enough of the bloke in class to judge, but something tells me that he wouldn’t do too well there._

“We’re trying to get him to apply for next year’s Academy scholarship, but for some reason, he now seems content with staying here,” she finished, shaking her head. “Before, he’s always wanted to leave Teignmouth for the Academy, why doesn’t he want to do so anymore?”

I didn’t respond; instead, I was trying to wrap my head around the fact that Dom was _trying_ to get into the Academy. That’d be a weird position swap, if he actually made it in; he’d be the one enjoying the Academy’s fantastic teachers, playing polo, and just having a good time overall. I’d be the one stuck in Teignmouth, doing absolutely nothing with my life except for taking walks along the seaside, and getting into fights with Tom Kirk on occasion.  
  
“Anyways,” she said, sighing. “Enough about the Academy. You wanted to go see Dominic, correct?”

I nodded in response, wiping my mind of thoughts about Dominic and the Academy, instead focusing on what he told Emily last night.

Determined, I walked up the stairs, trying to assess every possible outcome of the upcoming situation. We could reach a state of understanding – or Dom could continue being the jealous person that he is. I was personally hoping for the former.

“His room’s the first door on the left,” his mum called, before going to resume whatever she was doing prior to my arrival.

Keeping that information in mind, I burst into Dom’s room, not caring if I woke him up from a nap, or whatever. I just wanted to get things straight with him, whatever the cost.

“Matt?”

I saw Dom lying down on his bed, a cloth draped over his forehead and a trash can next to him. He looked deathly pale – a sight that I wasn’t used to seeing – and looked considerably weak.

I kept my eyes trained on him as I went to take a seat at the foot of his bed, careful to avoid sitting on his legs.

“What’re you doing here?” he asked, voice groggy. 

I chose not to reply, instead taking the time to look around the room. It was considerably larger than my room, and was heavily decorated as well. Posters for various bands were put up on the wall, as well as some posters of famous drummers – however, the room seemed to be lacking a drumkit, the instrument that Dom claimed he played.

The room seemed fairly clean as well. There was no visible clutter on his wardrobe or his nightstand; all the papers on his desk were nice and organized, with a laptop sleeping beside his papers. His desk chair was devoid of any clutter (quite unlike mine), instead bearing nothing but his school bag.

Despite my current negative feelings towards Dom, there was one good thing about him: the guy was a fairly clean person.  
  
“Matt? Why are you here?” he asked again, stopping me from further examining his room.

“Right, about that,” I started, returning my gaze to Dom and folding my hands on my lap. “Last night, I got a call from my girlfriend. Let’s say that I wasn’t too thrilled about what she had to say.”

“Your girlfriend,” Dom repeated, making his distaste evident.  
  
“Yes, my girlfriend,” I spat, getting worked up. “Who I’m not allowed to displease, otherwise I’d get an angry Tom chasing after me.” 

“Sounds like fun,” Dom said sarcastically, turning over and directing his gaze to the garbage bin beside him. “That’s nice, Matt. See you on Monday.” 

“I’m not done yet,” I growled, punching his leg. In response, a very angry-looking Dominic turned to face me, staring at me with stormy grey eyes. 

“I’m having you finish right now,” Dominic replied, looking rather anxious. “Please leave. I feel like shit and I don’t need you to make me feel any worse.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll leave once we’re through,” I assured him, still keeping my tone firm.

“Anyways,” I started, my voice gaining a dangerous edge. “What made you think that we fucked last night? And what made you think that you were free to tell Emily, the most malicious person in this bloody town?”  
  
“I was drunk,” Dom groaned, while holding his head. “And I have a massive hangover to prove it.”

I couldn’t fault him for doing idiotic things while drunk, however the fact that he was drinking raised a red flag. There was no doubt that Tom had gone and got him drunk again.

“That’s fucking brilliant,” I sighed, holding my head in my hands. “And Emily couldn’t fucking pick up on the fact that you were pissed out of your mind?”  
  
“Apparently, no. You’ve got yourself some stupid tail there, Matt.”  
  
“That made itself clear the day we met.”

“Then why stay with her?” Dom asked, still not on board with my ‘relationship’ with Emily.

“Blackmail is a wonderful, wonderful thing, Dominic,” I sighed. “If I don’t, Tom’ll show up to my Nan’s place and do the unspeakable.”

There was silence after that; I was busy looking around Dom’s room, and Dom was busy trying to comprehend the reasons behind me dating Emily.

“Your perception of Tom is screwed up,” Dom pointed out, fidgeting in his bed.

“No, it isn’t, it’s perfectly reasonable.” I declared, staring at him in disbelief. “Are you still drunk, Dominic?”

“Fuck you, Matt,” Dom spat, staring at me in anger. “First off, no, I’m not drunk. Second, you haven’t had a proper interaction with the guy. You’ve only argued and fought with him. Third, he’s actually a decent bloke.”  
  
“I’m sure that arguing counts as human interaction,” I scoffed, not sure if I was hearing him correctly. _Tom,_ a decent bloke? Highly unlikely. “Besides, didn’t he get you drunk a few days ago and nearly beat the life out of you? Didn’t he fucking beat you senseless a couple of times? Didn’t you tell me, a few days ago, that you were fucking _scared of him?_ How does that make him _decent?”_  
  
“I’m over all that, and so is he.” Dom defended, clearly not okay with me attacking his ‘friend’. “He’s the only friend that I have in this stupid town.”  
  
“You’re fucking ridiculous, _and_ delusional,” I interrupted, not in the mood for this. “He’s going to do nothing but hurt you.”

“He won't hurt me as much as you have,” Dom spat, springing up from his current state. The blankets fell off of his pale body, revealing that he was wearing nothing but boxers. _Fucking beautiful._

“Put some clothes on, you whore,” I shot back, sprinting to his closet, opening it, and throwing him the first pair of trousers that I saw. “I’m not here to bask in the glory of your almost-naked body.”  
  
“What, implying that my body’s glorious?” Dom challenged, smirking. He walked up to me and ignored the clothes that I had tossed in his general direction, his grin becoming wider with every passing step.  
  
“W-What the f-fuck, Dom? For fuck’s sake, just put the bloody trousers on,” I sputtered, unsure of what I was witnessing. Was he fucking _teasing_ me, after expressing his distaste towards me?

“No, I think I’ll stay like this,” he sighed, while decreasing the distance between us two, much to my surprise. “Just ‘cause you said that I looked glorious. You don’t know how happy I feel when you compliment me.”

“Back up for a second,” I pleaded, not entirely sure about what the fuck was currently going on. “We were arguing about Emily and Tom a few moments ago, and now you insist on prancing around in your fucking boxers?”

“Don’t you _dare_ mention Emily,” Dom requested, putting his finger on my lip. “It’s obvious that she’s in love with your money, not you.”  
  
“Your point? What fucking happened to you hating me?”  
  
“I fucking love you for who you are, and at the same time, I hate you for those exact reasons,” Dom said, still insisting on closing the distance between us. “Come on, Matt, can’t you see it?” he asked me, throwing his arms around my shoulders.  
  
“I’m blind,” I murmured, heart beating out of my chest. I cast my look downward, unsure of what to expect – I hadn’t shared _this_ much physical contact with someone that wasn’t a family member.  
  
“Yeah, you are,” Dom said, disappointed. He backed away from me and sat on the bed, causing me to raise my eyes in question.

“Yet another 180 from you,” I pointed out. “What’s up, Dom? Why are you like this?”

Dom studied me with an intense gaze, leaving me to stare at him in disbelief. He said nothing, he did nothing – but the look on his face suggested that he was thinking anything _but_ nothing. 

It didn’t take long for me to realize that our current situation was awkward as fuck – hell, I was staring at a guy in his boxers without doing anything. Though I’ve got to admit, Dom didn’t look too bad when he was dressed in this manner.

_Goddammit Matt, get a hold of yourself, you fucking perv._

However, despite my distaste for the entire ordeal, I didn’t find myself running out of Dom’s room, or heading back to Dom’s closet to search for an article of clothing to throw at him.  
  
“Matt,” Dom breathed, breaking the silence. He stood up and made his way over to me, until our bodies were practically touching.  
  
“D-Dom, wh-what-” I responded, unsure of how to react. I wanted to back away from him, however something told me that he would shrug it off and continue closing the distance in between us.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, before leaning in, shutting his eyes. I widened my eyes in response, my mind going a million miles an hour.

_Shitshitshit, he really isn’t going to-_

All of my thoughts quickly turned to mush as his lips met mine, causing me to clutch Dom’s arms for support and gasp in response; I hadn’t expected him to do something of this calibre. Noting my surprise, Dom saw this as an opportunity to deepen the kiss, slipping his tongue into my mouth and tightly clutching my hair, balling his hands into fists. Taken aback by his forwardness, I instinctively stepped back, not used to the force he was currently exerting and desperately trying to find something that would support my weight.

We stumbled backwards until I found myself propped up against a wall, with Dom mapping out my mouth with his tongue, leaving me to do nothing but softly groan in response.

Attempting to return the favour, I kissed him back – however my movements were rather clumsy, lacking the finesse that Dom possessed. As we continued, it became increasingly obvious that I hadn’t kissed anyone before, causing me to pull out of the kiss in sheer embarrassment.

“Oh my god,” I said, feeling my cheeks heat up. “Did we just- did you just-”

“We did,” Dom replied, staring at me. “Why’d you stop though? It felt nice.”  
  
“Well, uh, I’m not trained in this department, and I don’t want to make myself look like a fool in front of you-”

“I don’t care,” Dom frowned, leaning back in to kiss me.  
  
“Wait, no, stop,” I protested, pushing Dom off of me. He whined in response, looking at me with big, grey, puppy eyes. I propped myself up, walked away from Dom, and took a seat on his bed, looking at him with a look filled with pity.  
  
“Oh?” Dom questioned, looking at me with a dirty look. “Yeah, we could use the bed, if you’d like,” he said, walking over to me and pushing me on to the bed. Grinning, he straddled my waist and attempted to lean in, cupping my face as he went. 

“No, Dom, stop it,” I objected, pushing him off of me – thankfully, he relented, leaving me to stare at him in sadness.  
  
“Look, your parents are home, and it just doesn’t feel right to snog while they’re downstairs, yeah?” I said, readjusting my trousers and getting up.  
                                                                
“Matt, they’re downstairs, they can’t-”  
  
“Not to mention that you’ve been puking all day,” I pointed out, gesturing at the trash can.

“That didn’t bother you though,” Dom pleaded, trying to move closer to me. “Come on, Matt. That single kiss was the highlight of my life. Can we continue, please?”

“Dom, I know that you hate this tidbit of information, and trust me, I hate it even more than you do,” I started, watching his facial expression shift. “But I-I have a girlfriend. As much as I’d like to continue – this just feels _wrong._ I need to-” 

“Yeah, you and your loyalty,” Dom snapped, before proceeding to flop back down on his bed, attempting to pull the covers over himself. “Don’t even bother, Matt. Forget that this even happened in the first place,” he told me, before turning over on his side.  
  
“See you on Monday, Matt.” he called, clearly done with our conversation.

Now taking this as my legitimate cue to leave, I muttered a stiff goodbye and exited his room, taking care to close his door as I went. With nothing but memories of today’s kiss running through my mind, I left the Howard household, yelling out a quick goodbye to Dom’s parents before I went out their front door.

Oh, god. Sure, the visit was somewhat pleasant, but it sure didn’t go according to plan. I’d gone to the Howards’ place in an attempt to chastise Dom for feeding Emily false information, however I ended up snogging the bloke instead – what kind of chastise method was that? Whatever it was, it made me feel a _bit_ guilty; despite my lack of affection for Emily, the idea of snogging someone other than her felt morally wrong. That being said, I didn’t completely dislike the kiss, though.

After sprinting back to Nan’s overdecorated house (seriously, I’d have to give her a little lecture about responsible decorating), I slipped through the front door, hoping that Nan wasn’t there to witness my arrival.  
  
Lo and behold, there she was, sitting on the first step and waiting for me at the door, looking at me like I’d just gone and fought a war without her permission.  
  
“Well, it’s a shock to see you return so early,” she said, getting up to embrace me. “Though you look a little… different. Did something happen between you and Dominic?”  
  
“W-Wait, what do you mean? Nothing happened at all,” I panicked, trying to feel my face for any bruises. “H-How do I look, Nan?”

“Off,” was Nan’s simple reply. “Go look in a mirror and see if you can find anything, because I can’t really put a finger on what’s amiss,” she said, before heading upstairs. 

I scrambled to the upstairs bathroom and looked in the mirror, and immediately saw what Nan was trying to hint at.

_That’s amazing._

I’ve got to admit, the sight of my hair looking like a rat’s nest and my slightly plump lips were somewhat pleasing to see; they were temporary reminders of my time with Dom, even if it ended on a sour note.

But then confusion arose; there was definitely no way that Dom was tight with Tom, right? I mean, Tom had gone and inflicted a ton of physical pain on him, even going so far as to knock him unconscious one time. There was definitely something up between those two; something was off.

Then again, _everything_ was off when it came to Dom. Yesterday he’d been yelling about how much he’d hated me… yet today, he willingly kissed me, pushing the boundaries of our relationship. He’d even seemed to want to break free of those boundaries, seeming eager to continue our little make out session once he’d gotten me to lie down on his bed. 

Admittedly, I was a fan of it too: the prospect of shagging Dom didn’t seem too bad, huh? He was rather eager, showing no signs of shyness whatsoever – which was so unlike his personality that was shown outside of the bedroom. 

But there was Emily to think about. She’d be horrified when she found out that I’d been ‘fucking’ Dom, even going so far as to threaten to ‘come to my Nan’s house and beat me senseless’. I’d just have to stay loyal and give her what she wants, even if it meant putting Dom aside.

Shaking my head, I decided to leave my appearance as-is and left the washroom, my mind being flooded with thoughts of Dom and his persistence.

* * *

It’d been a few days since I had kissed Matt, yet there were _still_ no signs of anything special happening between us. It took a lot of courage for me to get up and kiss him, but what did it get me? A simple ‘I can’t, I have a girlfriend’?

Yeah. That’s what it got me. Not a _thank you,_ or some other high praise from him, but a simple statement. _I have a girlfriend._ A statement that hurt more than Tom’s physical beatings. It told me that I could never hold an intimate relationship with Matt, even if he seemed to be okay with the idea.

So it really shouldn’t have been a surprise when I spotted Emily and Matt walking around the pier, sharing a basket of fish and chips, while taking a look at the pier, snapping the occasional picture in the process.

Thankfully, Tom was there by my side, ready to alleviate the mood with offhand remarks about the couple; however, much to my displeasure, they made me feel _worse_ about the entire situation as well.

“Fuckin’ tourists,” Tom muttered, lazily jabbing his finger in the general direction of Emily and Matt. “They’ve got the entire tourist-y thing going on. They’re taking pictures and eating traditional British grub, and look, Matt’s even bought a little something for his little snowflake,” he pointed out, pointing at a small box in Matt’s hand.  
  
Hearing Tom refer to Emily as ‘Matt’s little snowflake’ sent me spiralling into a state of rage, which was only accentuated when Matt handed the box to Emily. She opened it, revealing a beautiful-looking necklace, which seemed to bear a pretty gemstone, glistening in the evening sunlight. 

“Aw, that’s cute,” Tom snickered. “Wonder how much cash he had to fork over for _that.”_

“Who cares,” I yawned, shrugging. “The guy’s richer than half of Europe.” I attempted to seem nonchalant about the entire matter, but in truth, I was secretly hoping that he’d be able to get me something of that value (if not more expensive) in the near future.

Yesterday, Matt told me that he didn’t enjoy being with Emily, however the current situation suggested otherwise; the two were smiling and laughing like there was no tomorrow, with Matt even giving off a huge belly laugh every time Emily told him a stupid joke.

The pair were nothing but obnoxious. Their noise was probably putting off everyone else that decided to come down to the Grand Pier on this particular evening, with laughter and frantic joke-telling piercing the air every few seconds. Tom and I were examples of such people, becoming more agitated as time went on.

“When do they shut up?” Tom asked, fidgeting with a stick that he’d found on the ground. “They’re fucking annoying, I swear.” 

“Hopefully soon,” I said, taking a glance at the setting sun. Soon it’d be dark, then the pair would be forced to head home for the night, free to do whatever the hell they wanted. _Maybe Matt’ll work up the courage to start shagging Emily,_ I mused, frowning. _That seems like a likely scenario. He’d actually enjoy it, too – any person’s better than me, right?_

“Do-om,” Tom whined, tapping me on the shoulder. “You’re lost in thought again.”

“Kind of hard to stay focused when the man of your life’s in love with someone else,” I said, pointing at the couple, who were busy snogging. “Come on, Tom. I know you don’t like Matt, but at least _try_ and understand where I’m coming from.”

“Man of your life,” Tom repeated, snickering. He hopped off the post he was sitting on and started to make his way towards the lovestruck couple, leaving me to watch him in disbelief.

“Tom, wait,” I called, hopping off my post and catching up to him. “Don’t do anything stupid. I still like Matt.”

“I won’t hurt Matt today,” Tom assured, picking up the pace. “As of now, he’s the least of my worries.”

Trying my best to trust Tom’s judgement, I didn’t object to his statement, instead watching him walk up to the liplocked couple and tap Matt on the shoulder.

Shocked, Matt pulled away from the kiss, regarding Tom with a surprised look. His eyes only widened once he saw me as well, realizing that I was watching him snog his ‘beloved’. _Come on, Matt. I was the first person to kiss you. I taught you whatever the hell you were doing to Emily._

“Sup, lovebirds,” Tom sneered, shooting his gaze between Emily and Matt. “I’d love to talk to both of you one day, however Mr. Howard here needs to talk to Bellamy over there,” he started, before shoving me up to Matt, despite my protests. 

“Matt,” I started, trying to make myself sound upbeat. “Uh, what’s up? I, uh, I-”

“Dom,” he warned, abandoning Emily and walking up to me, shooting me sharp glances. “Not now. I get that you’re angry over what happened, but please. Don’t mention it now. Not in front of Emily.”  
  
“You and your loyalty, huh?” I asked him, casting my look downward. “Alright, Matt, I get it. You’ll never want me, even after I-I granted you-”

“Dom, like I said before,” he pleaded, trying to reason with me. “I hate it even more than you do.” 

“Sure seems like it,” I said sarcastically. “After what I’ve seen you and Emily doing, I highly doubt-”

“Matty? What’s going on, love?” Emily asked, anxious to know what was going on. Matt shot another warning glance at me, silently telling me that I spoke to loud and would arouse Emily’s suspicious if I went any further.

Taking Emily’s question as his queue to enter the conversation, Tom walked up to Matt and I, sneering. Laughing, he pushed Matt away from me, causing Emily to scramble up to him and take his arm, attempting to lead him away from Tom and I. Matt, being the stubborn idiot that he was, didn’t budge.  
  
“I think you two should cut the bullshit before Thompson over there starts whining,” Tom chuckled, jabbing a finger in Emily’s direction. “Come on, Dom, let’s leave the two lovebirds to shag.” He took my wrist and led me away from Matt and Emily, however I wasn’t done talking to Matt. 

“Tom, no,” I objected, trying to yank my arm away from him. “I’m not done talking to Matt.”

“Don’t care,” Tom said, tightening his grip. “We’re going to leave them alone.”

I shot one last glance at Matt, who looked visibly upset. I’m not sure why – he had Emily to ‘cheer him up’ whenever he pleased, and he clearly wasn’t disturbed with me taking my leave, since he was willing to swap _me_ for some stupid bird that locked him in some contract.  
  
“What was that for?” I screamed, once Matt and Emily were out of sight. “Matt and I were having a conversation, Tom!”

“About what?” Tom asked, letting go of my arm and raising an eyebrow in question. “Come on, Dom. I’ve told you before: Matt isn’t worth shit.”

“He might not be, to you. But he’s worth a lot to me.”

“Boo-hoo, big fucking deal,” Tom yawned, plopping down on a nearby bench. “Funny, cause I’m sure that you hated the bloke’s guts a few days ago.”

“It’s a bit complicated,” I admitted, my voice breaking. “But he still means a lot to me.” 

Tom raised an eyebrow once again, looking at me in disbelief. “He’ll do nothing but hurt you, Dom. He doesn’t give a shit about anyone other than himself.”

“Yeah, you’re right… but still-”

“Dominic, why don’t you ever fucking _listen?”_ Tom snarled, giving me a light kick in the shin. The unexpectedness of the action (and Tom’s use of my full name) caused me to step back in shock and gape at him. He sounded like Matt. He sounded _too much_ like Matt.

“Look, Dom.” Tom started, voice rising. “At school, he wants everyone to know that he’s the smartest person on this planet.”

“Yeah, but-”

“With Emily, who as you know, blackmails people into trying to date her, he only cares about his wellbeing. I don’t believe that he truly _loves_ her – he’s just trying to protect his own hide from the consequences of her deal.”

“Tom-”

“He’ll never end up with you, Dom. That’s what I’m trying to say.” Tom finished, picking up a stone and throwing it into the sea.

“Are you sure that you’re not telling me this because you don’t want me with him?” I asked cautiously, before taking a seat next to him.

“Well, uh, sorta,” Tom admitted, scratching his head. “I’m just here to protect you, Dom. Don’t want you getting hurt anymore.” 

I raised an eyebrow at his statement, not used to the softer side of Tom. “After what you did to me last week, that is?”

“Yeah,” Tom replied, tossing another pebble into the sea. “Truth be told, I like you, Dom. I just needed to, uh, prove a point last week.”

“No one messes with you,” I sighed, before reclining on the bench. Tom nodded in response. We sat on the bench in silence, letting the sound of the lapping waves rule over our conversation and watching the sun set over the horizon.  
  
“I’m done with beating you up,” Tom declared, breaking the silence. He pat me on the shoulder in reassurance, and shifted closer to me. “Don’t even know what was going through my head last week, to be fairly honest. Think I was too angry about Matt and all.”

“Thanks, Tom,” I said, grateful that I wouldn’t have to be the victim of his beatings any longer. “Does this mean that you’ll leave Matt alone, too?”

“Debatable. Fucking hate that kid. Only person I hate more than him is Emily.”

“Oh, alright then,” I responded, my voice laced with sadness. I didn’t want to see Matt hurt by Tom any longer, so I wanted to try to protect him, whatever the cost. In addition, it would also be cool if I could get Matt and Tom to reconcile… but after hearing each bloke’s opinions on the other party, it seemed highly unlikely. 

Tom didn’t choose to respond, letting the sounds of the coast wash over our conversation. I watched as the sun set over the horizon – which was my favourite sight in the world, to be honest. 

 _What if I took Matt here,_ I thought to myself, envisioning us walking around the pier, holding hands and eating ice cream. _I’d enjoy his company more than Tom’s, that’s for sure. Now that I think about it, that’d be an awesome first date… that’ll never happen. Bloody hell, Matt, why can’t you see that I’m never going to give up on you?_

Unable to rid my mind of thoughts about Matt and I, I stood up and leaned against the pier’s guard rail, replaying our meeting that took place over the weekend. I’d taken Matt aback by my forwardness, but he didn’t seem to mind, instead reacting as eagerly as I’d hoped.

I wanted to do that over and over again. What took place between us produced nothing but unadulterated bliss – a natural high. A natural high that’d never be replicated again, if he still decided to stay with Emily…

“Dom? You alright?” Tom asked, getting up to join me. “You’re spaced out again.”

Choosing not to reply, I looked down, clutching the guard rail until my knuckles turned white. A stray tear fell from my cheek, and I watched as it hit the rail and tumbled into the calm sea below.  
  
“Tom,” I replied, my voice cracking. “I love him so fucking much.”

“Yeah, you’re whipped,” Tom chuckled. I didn’t respond, instead watching the guard rail as more and more tears fell upon it. Tom, upon realizing that I wasn’t pissing about, quickly stopped his little chuckle fit and shut up.

“Well, uh, look at the time,” Tom exclaimed, after a period of silence. “I’d better get going, Dom. See you at school tomorrow.” 

Tom then left, leaving me to brood in silence. The sight of the sea was rather relaxing – but my feelings for Matt were enough to unsettle me.

Why was he so keen on staying with Emily? Yeah, he’d told me that he’d have an angry Tom on his tail, but I’m certain that he’d be used to being around angry Tom, after what happened during the first week of school. There had to be something else. Something that he wasn’t admitting.

 _My knight in shining armour,_ I frowned, more tears spilling out into the sea. _When will you realize that I’m the best option for you?_


	10. Chapter 10

_Alright Matt, you’ve got this. End of semester exams? They’re no problem at all._

Before I knew it, it was the end of the first semester. My first semester in Teignmouth. It hadn’t gone according to plan; after all, I’d managed to get the entire school on my bad side, a _bloke_ to pine over me, and a crazy girlfriend.

But, on the bright side, it could be worse. I could be expelled, or dead, or working as a seaman. As of now, I was just a guy whose social life seemed pretty fucked up.

As for the specifics of my first semester: aside from the first week of school, and a few select days during the first month of school, there wasn’t really anything notable that happened in my life. Dom and Tom still remained best buddies, Dom attempted to pry me away from Emily, Emily still insisted on furthering our relationship, and I excelled in school.

Christmas was also an event that wasn’t too special. My parents didn’t show up to Teignmouth, nor did they visit Paul at Oxford, which was expected. Instead, they wired some cash, accompanied with a note that wished me well and detailed their latest exploits in a country (this year, it was Luxembourg). Nan invited the Howards over for dinner, which didn’t pose anything relatively interesting – the adults made small talk while Dom and I refused to make contact, only deciding to speak if we were addressed. 

Yeah, Dom was a bit of an issue. Aside from firmly believing that I _want_ to be with Emily, he thinks that I’ve forgotten about the day when we first kissed; no, scratch that, he firmly _believes_ that I’ve forgotten about that day. If I say otherwise, he’d just continue arguing his case. I didn’t really hang around him that much anymore, given that he’d just grill me about my relationship with Emily and my stupid memories of that particular weekend whenever we got together.

Truth be told, I hadn’t forgotten about that day. I replayed the events in my head whenever possible. When Emily demanded that I give her love and affection, I would often reimagine the scenario that happened between Dom and I, hoping that it would put me in the mood for whatever Emily had in plan. Well, it worked… she’d get the idea that I enjoyed whatever intimate thing happened between us, and my head would just be filled with images of Dom.

I’ve got to admit, the visualisation habit was a tad creepy. However, I was still fully aware of the deal she’d proposed a while back and didn’t want to offend her; though judging by how tame Tom looked nowadays (hey, turns out hanging around Dom tended to remove all your aggressive tendencies), I figured that he wasn’t too much of a threat. So, ending the relationship was a thought that often dominated my mind – when I wasn’t thinking about Dom, that is.

As of now, I was standing outside of my Physics class, standing close to the door and revising my notes. It was my third exam that I had to write, with my final exam, the English exam, taking place the following day. I’d remarked that the Community College had an odd exam schedule. Unlike most schools, the College insisted on having students write their exams in reverse class order. 

“Hey,” I heard a voice say, prompting me to look up from my notes and towards its source. I saw Emily approaching me, bearing a stack of papers in her hand a water bottle in the other. 

“Hey, Emily,” I said, smiling at her. “What exam do you have today?” 

“Nothing too difficult,” she replied, voice calm. “Maths. It’s always been my best subject.” She glanced at the papers that I was holding, taking note of the various scientific formulas scrawled on it.  
  
“You have physics or chem, I’m assuming?” She asked, trying to get a better look at my papers.

“Physics,” I said, casually flipping through my notes. “Probably the best class I had this semester.” 

“Sounds like fun,” she replied, voice light. I offered another smile in response to that, unsure of what else to say. Knowing her, she’d probably ask me to do something for her (or _with_ her), seeing as most of our conversations ended up in that manner.

“So Matt,” she started, moving next to me and leaning on the wall. 

“Yeah?” 

“Do you want to have a study session after today’s exam? We could go over some stuff for English, and do some other things in the process…” 

I sighed at looked at her, unsure of what to say. I preferred to do my exam review alone, but then again, not accepting Emily’s plans would result in a massive shitstorm.

“Sure, that’d be beneficial,” I lied, looking back down at my notes. “When do you want to meet?”

“After exams, we can meet at the front of the school,” she said, practically bouncing up and down in excitement. “I’m so excited for this, Matt, it’ll be so fun!”

“Uh, sure?” I replied, raising an eyebrow in question. Alright, we were going to study together... but nothing was too special about a study session. Besides, English revision shouldn’t take too long. All we had to do was gloss over writing techniques, reread brief summaries of the books we read in class, and scan over grammar conventions. That shouldn’t take more than an hour.

“See you later, Matty,” she called, before scurrying off in the direction of her math class. “Good luck on your physics exam!”  
  
“Luck to you too, Emily,” I responded, before turning my attention back to my study notes, attempting to fill my mind with physics formulas and information. I had an exam to ace; my concern over Emily’s excitement could wait.

Until our upcoming post-exam conversation, that is.

* * *

One very easy Physics exam later, I found myself waiting outside of the school, shooting nervous glances between my watch and the front of the door. Exams were over for the day, so the masses were pouring out of the school gates – it wouldn’t take long for Emily to show up. The sooner, the better; I wanted this study session to be over as soon as possible.

Sighing, I scanned over the crowd of people, hoping to catch the face of the brunette. Instead, I caught sight of a certain blonde, hanging out with a group of familiar tormentors.  
  
“Dom!” I called, cutting through the crowd and making my way over to where he was. “How’d your exam go?”

“Oh, hey Matt,” he replied, breaking away from the Tom squad and offering a shy smile. “It went fairly well, I guess. Today I wrote my biology exam. It was probably the easiest exam I’ve written so far.”  
  
“That’s pretty cool. Got any plans?”  
  
“Uh, yeah,” he replied, looking back at his group, which seemed to be complete today – Tom, Morgan, and Simon were all glaring at Dom and I’s conversation (and trying to figure out how they’d beat me to pieces, judging by the intensity of their stare). 

“We’re catching a train to Exeter,” Dom explained. “After that, well, I’m not entirely sure about what we’re going to do. It involves running around Exeter, though. Want to come?” He shot a nervous glance back at Tom and earned an eye-roll in response, with Simon and Morgan snickering beside him.  
  
“I’ve got some plans myself,” I admitted. “Study session.”

“With Emily, I assume?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
“Good job, Sherlock,” I grinned, clapping him on the shoulder. “You’ve guessed the obvious.”

Dom didn’t find the statement funny; instead, he stared at me, his look filled with hurt.  
  
“Oi, come on, Dom,” I said, annoyed. “It’s been four – almost five – months. Can’t you take a bloody joke?”  
  
“Whatever,” he sighed, tossing my statement aside and starting to make his way back to Tom and company. “See you tomorrow, Matt.”

I watched as he went, feeling guilty about the entire interaction. I’d attempted to re-spark our relationship with a little bit of banter, which would eventually lead to laughter, but failed. Dom’s downward-cast gaze, sluggish steps, and unconfident gait only confirmed my suspicious; I’d only gone and made the bloke feel like shit. _What’s new?_

Dom joined the group and they soon broke out into laughter, with Dom’s expression morphing into one of happiness. He was visibly happy with the group (the same group that tormented him a while back) and it seemed like nothing – or rather, _no one_ – else could make him feel the same level of elation that he felt while with Tom. 

 _Not even me,_ I realized, feeling deflated by the entire matter. It’s clear that I wasn’t able to rekindle the positivity that was between us, which was a shame. 

Hanging my head in guilt, I made my way back to my original waiting place, where I saw Emily, a large grin plastered on her face. Upon seeing me, she immediately made her way to where I was and placed a small, delicate kiss on my cheek.  
  
“Hello, love,” Emily greeted, slinging her arm over my shoulder. “How’d your physics exam go?”

“Fairly easy,” I replied, blushing. Even though I was used to her public displays of affection, I always felt embarrassed whenever she decided to gift me with a kiss, or some form of intimate contact. _Must be a side effect of dating someone you have no interest in._

“Here’s to making tomorrow’s exam even easier,” she giggled, while taking my hand and leading me away from the school. I followed her reluctantly, even going so far as to wriggle away from her clutches, not wanting to make _that_ kind of contact with her after my sour interaction with Dom. 

“Matty?” she asked, looking at me with a curious look. “What’s wrong?” 

I looked at her, my face filled with guilt. She’d instantly know that I was thinking about my terrible relationship with Dom – this wasn’t the first time that she’d caught me in this particular mood.

“Seriously, you’re thinking about _him_ again?” she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “He’s back in league with Tom, Matt. There’s no mending your friendship.” 

I said nothing in response, instead letting her lead me to her home. She told me the same thing whenever she caught me in a bad mood around her – I didn’t need to hear it for the umpteenth time. I was fully aware of the ever-growing fissure in between Dom and I – a gap that would only enlarge, as time went on. In order to mend the stupid relationship, I’d have to get rid of Emily first – an event that would have to be done when the time was right.

Maybe I could end it today, after our study session? We’d compared our schedules for second semester, which were received prior to the start of exam season. We shared no classes, granting me a highly needed break from her bullshit.

We walked in silence, choosing not to discuss my relationship with Dom any further, or discuss our upcoming study plans. Not a little while after, we reached Emily’s house, which appeared to be in the fancier part of Teignmouth – while my neighbourhood was composed of small, one-and-a-half story houses, Emily’s neighbourhood featured massive two-stories, with the occasional three-story house making its appearance.

 _Now_ these _are the houses that I’m used to._

“We’re here,” she announced, finding her key and then unlocking the front door. “There’s no one home, it’ll be just you and me,” she added, gifting me with a little wink.

Immediately understanding the hidden meeting behind her statement, I stared at her, eyes wide. So we weren’t going to study, huh? _Fucking hell, I should probably leave before she turns around to invite me in. Or, on the flip side, she’s just relieved that we’ll be able to study undisturbed, as unlikely as that seems._

Emily opened the door, revealing a wide foyer littered with various articles of clothing and pairs of shoes, with stairs leading to the second floor set off to the side.

“This is it,” she said excitedly, facing the interior of her home. “Home, sweet, home.” She walked in and immediately kicked off her shoes, while I simply stood outside of her front door, gaping at her in disbelief.

“What’re you waiting for, Matty?” she squealed, gesturing for me to come in. “Don’t waste time, otherwise it’ll waste you,” she giggled, before bounding up the stairs, leaving me to groan at her attempt at being profound. What was this, philosophy club?

Sighing, I walked in and locked the door behind me, taking a better look at the main foyer and its adjacent rooms. The mess wasn’t only limited to the main foyer, it seemed to extend to the kitchen and the living room as well. I widened my eyes in disbelief at the horrendous sight – a family of three couldn’t make this much of a mess on their own, right?

Shaking my head, I started to make my way up the stairs, my feeling of dread increasing with every step I took. Once I got upstairs, my attention was diverted towards the only open door – the door to Emily’s equally messy bedroom.  
  
“So, how do you want to go about doing this?” I asked nervously, walking into her room and setting my bag on her floor. “Do you want to review literary terms or-”

“Are you hungry?” she interrupted, putting her hands on her hips and pursing her lips.

“Uh, no, I’m not, thanks though,” I responded, stratching the back of my head. “Anyways, do you want to start by reviewing literary terms or-”

“Good, neither am I,” she smiled, plopping down on her bed and lying down, casting a blank look towards the ceiling.  
  
“Nice,” I responded, a bit annoyed with how nonchalant she was about the entire ‘study session’. “Anyways, Emily, what do you want to review?”

“Read that Shakespeare play to me,” she demanded, while still focusing her gaze on the ceiling.  
  
“Um, which one? There are several-”

“The one we read in class, Matty,” she said, staring at me with a quizzical look.

“We’ve read two. You’ve gotta be more specific than that.”

“The one with the crossdresser, you know, the one Shakespeare play that _totally_ copied off of that one soccer film.” 

“Twelfth Night?” I asked, opening my bag and pulling a copy of the play out of my bag. “For your information, that soccer film was made centuries _after_ the play.”

“Don’t care,” she said, shrugging. “Read it to me, Matt.”

“That’s inefficient,” I responded, incredulous. _She really has no idea about studying, huh?_

“You’re here to help and make it efficient, you Academy genius,” she grinned, lightly kicking me in the shin. “Anyways, begin.” 

“Alright, then,” I said, annoyed. I opened the book and began to read, hoping that I wouldn’t put myself to sleep in the process. Clearing my throat, I began to read:  
  
“If music be the food of love, play on-”  
  
“Wait, you’re a musician, right Matt?” Emily interrupted, much to my displeasure.

“I was _reading,”_ I responded, ticked off. “And yes, yes I am. Can I continue?” 

“It all makes sense now,” she gasped, sitting up in bed. “The reason why we’re so deeply in love is because you can play music,” she grinned, pulling me towards the bed, knocking the book aside, and proceeding to go in for a kiss.  
  
“Uh-hmph,” I managed, as our lips met, her eagerness quickly dominating my unwillingness. _No, the reason why we’re so ‘deeply in love’ is because you forced me to be in love with you,_ I thought, as Emily continued to kiss me with fervour, leaving me to do nothing but half-heartedly kiss her in response.

As we continued in this manner, I found my thoughts being flooded by memories of Dom. The blonde wanker standing in his boxers and suddenly pulling me in for our first kiss – that’s all that I was able to think about, as Emily continued to kiss me, her hands starting to roam over my body, with one hand sneaking up my shirt, the other fiddling with my belt buckle.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I soon began to think about Dom and what we would’ve done on that particular weekend, had we kept up with our deed. I put him in Emily’s place, which instantly put me in the mood for whatever the hell we were doing. _He_ was the one feeling up and down my shirt. _He_ was the one who was currently undoing my belt, reaching _his_ hand down my boxers, and making me feel all sorts of happiness. _He_ was the one responsible for the unadulterated bliss that I was currently feeling.

“Ungh, fuck _yes,_ ” I moaned, practically writhing underneath the hand’s delicate touch. “Fucking love it when you touch me, Dominic.”

Just as rapidly as it began, it ended. The hands were yanked away from my body, and I received a harsh slap to my face, jerking me out of my reverie and leaving me to stare into the beyond-angry gaze of Emily fucking Thompson, who was absolutely livid. We’d swapped places; now I was on the bottom, leaving Emily free to stare down on me with a disapproving look.

 _This is one hell of a way to end a relationship. It was completely unintended too…_

“What the fuck, Matt?” she screamed, slapping me once again. I felt the side of my cheek heat up in response to the harsh touch. _That’ll definitely leave a mark in the morning,_ I thought, while rubbing the freshly slapped spot.

I simply stared at her in response, my blushing intensifying by the second.

“Are you even aware of what you said?” she cried, tears spilling down her cheeks. She took a seat on her bed, rubbing the offensive tears away. Meanwhile, I fastened my belt and smoothened my shirt, leaving her to wallow in the stupidity that just took place.

Sure, it felt satisfying to let her know that I was indeed into blokes (more specifically, Dominic), but this was an overall shitty way to go about things, wasn’t it? 

“Hey, it was a, uh, Freudian slip,” I offered, sitting up and going over to comfort her. “I-I’m sorry, Emily.”

“You’re sorry?!” she screamed, slapping my hand away and glaring at me, her face stained by tears and runny mascara. “Seriously. That’s all you can offer? _‘I’m sorry’?”_

“Sure,” I sighed, attempting to rub her back, much to her disgust. “It won’t happen again, I promise.”

“Of course it won’t happen again,” she snorted, trying to kick me off of her bed. “That’s because we’re fucking done, Matt Bellamy. I’ll leave you to go and shag your _boyfriend,_ maybe you’ll be happier with him?”

Stunned, I got off the bed, trying to make sense of what she’d just said. She sounded like Dom. She sounded _too_ much like Dom.

“Get out,” she said, collapsing onto her bed and pulling the covers over her. “I don’t want to see you ever again.”

Willing to oblige, I gathered my belongings and quickly left her house, not wanting to linger too long in the area. It wouldn’t take long for Emily to send someone after me, whether it be her clique, her own self, or worse – the menacing crew of Tom. Thankfully, Tom was in Exeter and couldn’t hurt me today, but tomorrow – the day of our English exam, could yield trouble. 

But, on the bright side, dumping her in such a degrading fashion felt fucking _amazing._ After all the shit that she put me through – like the blackmail and the embarrassment, moaning Dom’s name in front of her was a wonderful way to liberate me of her control. It made her realize that I never loved her, and I _never_ will, for that matter.

Oh, there was also one certain aspect of this breakup that probably meant the most to me. An aspect that could either grant me loads of happiness, or loads of sadness.

I was now free to set my sights on Dom, without anyone to get in my way.

* * *

The train ride to Exeter hadn’t lasted long. To make matters even more favourable, we’d managed to catch a train that left Teignmouth almost instantly.

So, before we knew it, Tom, myself, Morgan, and Simon were prancing about downtown Exeter, after having grabbed a quick lunch at a nearby fish and chips. Hanging out with the lads helped me take my mind off of Matt – who, might I add, was probably shagging Emily nonstop, ever since exams were over.

“Let’s check out Exeter University,” Tom proposed, examining a map. “It’s only a fifteen minute walk away from the station.”

“What’s up with you and school?” Simon yawned, giving Tom a light punch in the shoulder. “I swear, you seem as tryhard as Matt.”

“Fuck off, you pillock,” Tom growled, whacking Simon in the back of the neck. “I’m not anything like that stupid plonker.”

Simon simply shrugged in response and continued looking at the local architecture, pretending that his exchange with Tom hadn’t happened.  
  
“Oi Simon,” Morgan started, grinning. “Do you have any other plans that seem more appealing than Tom’s?”  
  
“Go window shopping or some shit,” Simon grumbled, scratching the back of his neck. “Anything but go to another bloody school, I’m fuckin’ done with that place.”

“Window shopping?” Morgan hooted, laughing like a madman. “That’s almost as gay as Dom here,” he added, slapping my back. I winced in response and chose not to complain about the pain – cruelty was common within this group. Tom seemed to rub off on everyone, it seemed. 

I shot a nervous glance at Tom, who was busy examining the screen of his mobile and not caring about the others around him. After a few seconds of looking at the screen, he burst out laughing, causing the group to stop and stare at him in confusion.

“Oi Tom,” Morgan called, chuckling. “Care to explain what sent you into a fit of laughter?” 

“Holy shit, it’s too funny,” Tom giggled, wiping tears from his eyes. “Too bloody funny.”

“Then share, or have you lost your wits?” Simon taunted, giving Tom a little shove. “Come on, Tom, we’re your mates and deserve to know.”

“Fine, fine,” Tom gasped, regaining his composure. “Lads, prepare yourselves. This is headline-breaking news.” 

“Just fuckin’ speak already,” Simon demanded, giving Tom a little smack on the shoulder.  
  
“Matt and Emily are done.” 

I perked up upon hearing it – the fool hadn’t gone and broken up with her, right? After hearing him speak about how he had a ‘commitment to fulfill’ and how ‘blackmail was a beautiful thing’, it seemed highly unlikely.

“No shit, how?” Morgan grinned, trying not to burst out into laughter.

“Apparently the two were getting their freak on and Matt ended up moaning Dom’s name,” Tom said, giggling. “Or, at least that’s what Emily told me.”

I immediately went red as the group turned to face me. They were all trying their best to stifle their laughter, however their face gave off a common message, _‘holy fuck Dom, that’s so gay’._

“What d’ya know, Bellamy still has a thing for ol’ Dommy-boy,” Simon chuckled, clapping me on the back. “Holy shit, he’s so fucking pathetic.”

The trio laughed even harder, which caused me to go even redder, if that was even possible. The group _sure_ got a kick out of shaming me, but I couldn’t complain otherwise I’d lose a couple of friends.  
  
“That can’t possibly be it, Tom,” Morgan said, tone serious. “Emily would never text you without reason. What does she want _this_ time?”

The entire group went silent, myself included, as Tom pulled out his mobile and started scrolling through his text messages. After a few seconds, a sadistic smile slowly began to appear on Tom’s face, which caused my stomach to drop – _that_ kind of smile always signalled the beginning of something bad.

“Oh boy,” Tom started, grinning. “This’ll be good.”

“Do you and specifics have something against each other?” Simon roared, giving Tom a playful shove. “Come on Tom, cut to the chase already.”

“All of you lads are free after the English exam tomorrow, right?” Tom asked, putting his mobile away.

We all nodded, which made Tom’s grin grow even wider, making my fear levels rise exponentially. _This_ could not _mean well at all._

“Tomorrow, we’re going to hand Bellamy’s ass to him on a silver platter,” Tom snickered, making the group mutter words of approval. I simply stared at Tom, jaw open in disbelief; surely the group wouldn’t go back to hurting him, no?

“Oh, and, Dom,” Tom started, directing his steely gaze towards me.

“I’m not letting you miss out on _this_ one. You’ll be right there, watching your lover get fucked.”


	11. Chapter 11

I’d managed to prepare extremely well for the English exam, with the events yesterday’s incident not lingering on my mind for long; Emily’s ‘negative’ thoughts weren’t too hurtful, so I was able to forget about her with minimal effort. Thanks to my efficient study session, I’d managed to finish my English exam in no time at all, allowing me to leave the school earlier than usual and head home.

But, I chose not to head home immediately. Instead, I waited at the front of the school, hoping that I could catch Dom when exams had concluded for the day, and explain my current situation. I hoped that he’d be pleased to know that Emily and I are through – but then again, it was impossible that he _wouldn’t_ be pleased with the news.

Tapping my foot, I scanned the school grounds, searching for Dom’s mop of blonde hair amongst the sea of people. I was so focused on finding him that I practically jumped at the lightest of taps on the shoulder – I spun around, and saw the brooding expression of none other than Emily herself.

“What do you want?” I demanded, crossing my arms. “I thought that you didn’t want to see me anymore.”

“Well, that’s true, but this is somewhat important,” she replied, casting her look downward. “Matt, I’ve got something to tell you.”

“Hurry up and tell me, then,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I’ve got a home to go to.”

“Uh, can we talk inside?” she asked, looking around at the amount of people pouring out of the front doors. “I’m not sure if I want people listening into our conversation.”

“You make it sound like you’re trying to sell me drugs,” I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “But alright, if you insist, we’ll go.”

Emily managed a shy nod and started to make her way inside of the building, and I followed her, keeping my eyes out for Dom. If he popped up, I’d immediately leave the building, regardless of how Emily felt. I wanted nothing but to make things right with him.

Much to my dismay, I hadn’t caught sight of Dom. Emily continued to lead me into the school, until we found ourselves in a deserted hallway, save for a few people getting things out of their lockers. I looked around, and a small sweep of the hallway confirmed that most of the lockers were empty and without use, judging by the lack of locks present.

However, the hallway didn’t seem like a dead end – there was a stairwell next to where Emily and I were standing, so a person could walk in at any given time and ruin the corridor’s seclusion.

“You’re fine with this place, right Matt?” she asked, looking around. I nodded in response and turned to her, wondering what she wanted this time around. 

“Alright,” she started, taking deep breaths. “Look, I’m sorry about how I treated you yesterday. I feel like utter shit for flipping out at you yesterday, so, uh, sorry ‘bout that.”

“No problem, it made sense.” I shrugged, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible.

“So, uh, on that note,” she offered, twiddling her thumbs. She looked up and scanned the area, making sure that no one was in the immediate area, and then looked back at me, her gaze showing determination.  
  
“Want to forget about what happened yesterday and start over again?” she asked, dead serious. 

I simply stared at her with a blank look. My answer to her question was already set in stone, no matter what new threat she decided to scare me with.

“No.” I declared, rubbing my hands on my trousers and getting ready to leave the school. “I’m done with you. I’ve made that clear yesterday.” I started to make my way towards the front of the building and wait for Dom, not waiting for Emily’s response.

Much to my displeasure, Emily grabbed my wrist and pulled me back to her, making my escape attempts useless. Frustrated, I spun around to her and stared at her, giving her my best threatening glare.

“Our deal still stands,” she hissed, pulling me close to her.

“That’s low of you,” I replied, trying to wrench myself free from her grip. “Unfortunately, I don’t really care. Now if you excuse me, I’m going to-”

“Tom!” Emily called, tightening her hold on my wrists, causing me to wince in pain; her nails were clawing at my skin, making sure to leave angry marks. Her iron grip didn’t help matters much, either.

_What the fuck is she up to?_

Stunned, I looked around the hallway, wondering if Tom had been eavesdropping from a nearby classroom or the stairwell – but, last time I’d checked, Tom and Emily weren’t exactly friends, so why would they work together?

The event that followed felt like it belonged in some crummy action film. It turned out that the ‘empty’ lockers were indeed occupied. Upon Emily’s call for Tom, four locker doors were kicked open, revealing the grinning faces of Tom, Morgan, and Simon – and the uncomfortable-looking face of none other than Dominic Howard himself.

“How dramatic,” I remarked, rolling my eyes in response to the ‘ambush’.

Giddy with excitement, the trio hopped out of the lockers and made their way over to me, with Tom leading the group at the front. Dom, however, didn’t make such an energetic entrance, instead choosing to survey the situation from his current, cramped up position in his locker.

“What’s up, Bellamy?” Tom grinned, walking circles around my confused figure. “I know, I know, Emily and I aren’t the bestest of friends. But, I’d never pass up on an opportunity to show you who’s boss.” he said, gifting me a light kick in the shin. 

“Riiiiiiight,” I responded, rolling my eyes. “Still not over the shaming I’d granted you on the first day of English class, right?”

Tom yawned and studied me with a cold gaze, letting the tension hang in between us. Wanting to get to business, Simon and Morgan quickly shuffled up to me, fists raised – however Tom, who’d raised a hand in protest, interrupted them.  
  
“I told you,” he growled, turning back to face the two. “I’m going to do this alone.” He jerked a finger in Dom’s direction, causing the blonde to widen his eyes in fright.

“Your job is to take care of him,” he spat, disgusted. “Drag him out of the fucking locker and keep him next to Emily.”

Acting as if they’d received orders from a drill sergeant, Simon and Morgan nodded, immediately making their way over to Dom’s locker and pulling his trembling figure out. They dragged him over to where Emily standing – who, might I add, was watching the entire scene unfold with a large grin on her face – and held his arms behind his back, presumably to keep him from defending me.

Once satisfied with the sight of Dom being restrained, Tom forcefully shoved me up against the locker, creating a _bang_ that was loud enough to resurrect the dead.

“Tom, no, please don’t,” Dom pleaded, which only earned him a hard slap to the face and several uttered threats from Simon.

“Shut up, Dom,” Tom called, not bothering to make eye contact with him, instead keeping his gaze trained on me, his eyes sparkling.

“For once, I agree with Mr. Fuckface over here,” I told Dom, kicking Tom in the shin. “Shut the bloody hell up, before he decides that he wants to start beating _you_ too.”

Dom didn’t respond, instead staring at me with sad eyes. However, Tom was blazing in anger at what I’d said.  
  
“Oh boy, you sure got a mouth on ya, kid,” he chuckled, before planting a firm punch in my gut, leaving me to double over in pain. “Let’s see if you’ll still be talking shit once I’m through with you.”

One blow to the stomach quickly turned into two, which then multiplied and were accompanied by various punches and kicks to my torso and head. Tom was definitely not going to go easy on me today – judging by the strength and speed behind his blows, it had seemed like Tom had taken all his previous anger and saved it for this one particular event. Before long, I was writhing on the ground, gasping for air and vomiting saliva, while Tom’s groupies were laughing at the sight. It’d taken all my might to not scream bloody murder – I would _not_ give them that one satisfaction.

I’d felt like a million bucks prior to taking the exam. Now, I felt like the opposite; I’d managed to bite my tongue during our altercation, acquire a bloody nose and black eye, and I felt like I’d eventually vomit out my actual stomach, if Tom continued in this manner.

In between blows, I’d managed avoid one of Tom’s blows, despite my current state. Blurry-eyed, I tried to turn and face the rest of his group, with pain shooting through my spine and creeping up my face. I met the ecstatic faces of Morgan and Simon, the expression of smug satisfaction from Emily, and the facial expression that hurt the most: the beyond hurt expression from Dom – the same expression that he’d given me when he’d seen me hanging out with Emily. I could’ve sworn that I saw tears running down his face.

“D’ya like what you see?” I croaked, spitting out blood and staining the floor. “This’s what you’ve all been waiting for, right?”

“How does he look, lads?” Tom asked, yanking me up and holding me in front of the group, as if I was a rare statue that needed to be admired. “Pretty good, huh?” He continued, grinning. 

Tom shoved me to the ground, causing me to whack my face against the floor and cause even more bleeding and pain, which, at this point was too much to handle. I let out a soft groan in pain, trying to staunch the bleeding with my jumper – the sight was enough to make the group laugh once again.

“I think he looks pretty good,” Tom remarked, kicking me in the side. “How about you, Dom? Do you like your boyfriends a little bloody?”

I tried to get up and face Dom, however Tom held me in place with his foot, rendering any of my feeble attempts useless.

“Stop it,” Dom wailed, stamping on the ground. “Tom, he’s going to die.”

“Aww, but Dommy,” Tom cooed, picking me up once again and shoving me against the lockers, using more force this time around; I simply cast my look downward, unable to find the strength to lift my head.

“I’m not done yet.”

Dazed, I looked up at Tom, who was still giving me that signature psychotic glare of his. My vision focused and refocused, however it wasn’t due to the beating he’d laid on my face, as I’d expected; touching my face, I’d realized that I was crying.

“Look at you, Matt,” Tom mocked, noticing the tears mixing with my blood. “Not so tough now, huh?” He continued to mock me in this manner, making fun of my Cambridge roots, every answer that I’d given in class, and of course, my relationship with Dominic.

His taunts flew out my other ear, though; I’d managed to turn my head and face Dom, who didn’t look like he was in an outstanding position himself. He’d gone deathly pale and looked like he was about to wreak havoc on Tom and crew – he probably would’ve, if it weren’t for the hands restraining his arms and the hand covering his mouth.

_I’m sorry, Dom. I can’t stand up to him, or show my strong side that you’d said you liked…_

I turned back to Tom, who was still prattling on and on about how he was well respected here, and how everyone in the school would support his acts of violence towards me.

However, he’d struck the final straw once he’d delivered his last statement.

“Oh yeah,” Tom yawned, staring at me with bored eyes. “I’m sure your parents think that you’re a little cocksucker that isn’t worthy of a good life. Your mum didn’t bother having an abortion, so she just decided to go with the flow, you know? Your parents are living their lives without you, cause you’re a miserable little shit that isn’t worth their attention. Hey, I may be an arsehole, but…”

Looking me dead in the eyes, he delivered his bombshell:

“At least I have parents that love me.”

That statement that made me forget about all the pain that I was currently in, and replaced it with feelings of raw anger. With my parents constantly gone and never in the mood to visit or anything, Tom’s statement hit a little too close to home. 

Yes, I didn’t mind slander that went against me. But, if someone decided to insult my family, or my relationship with them – now _that_ was an entirely different story. 

“What the fuck did you just say, you fucking cunt?” I screamed, shoving Tom off of me and into a row of lockers, much to his (and the group’s) surprise. 

Tom did nothing but chuckle, attempting to push me off of him. Despite my weakened appearance, I didn’t let go – the current adrenaline rush doing its job quite well.

Tom’s stupid chuckle pushed me over the edge. I wanted revenge. Revenge for everything that he’d done to me and Dom. He was the reason why my time in Teignmouth was utter shit. He was the reason why I couldn’t have Dom with me, by my side. He was the fucking reason why I was currently feeling all sorts of pain, both mentally and physically.

Attempting to inflict as much pain as possible, I threw a heavy punch to Tom’s face, however I’d overestimated my strength. Tom easily dodged the blow by lazily shuffling to the side, leaving me to slam the locker, which was accompanied by another loud _bang_ and tendrils of pain shooting up my arm.

Taking this as an opportunity to regain the upper hand, Tom yanked me away from the locker and pinned my arms behind my back in a rather uncomfortable position, leaving me wincing in pain once again.

“How cute, you’re fighting back,” Tom cooed, tightening his grip. Frustrated, he kicked me forward, causing me to slam against the locker once again. I ended up in a heap on the ground, curled up in the fetal position and not wanting to endure any more pain.

“Tom, with all the smashing you’ve been doing to the lockers, you’re going to get someone to come,” Emily warned, with words of affirmation being muttered amongst Simon and Morgan. Dom, I assumed, was still trying to comprehend the sight that was taking place before his eyes (if he hadn’t fainted yet, that is).

“Fuck off, Thompson,” Tom spat, taking a few steps away from me. “I’m not done yet.” I attempted to crane my head to see what was happening, and I caught a glimpse of Tom approaching his nervous groupmates, with Dom kneeling on the ground. He was trembling and covering his eyes with his hands – a sight that made me feel ten times shittier, if that was even possible.  
  
“Tom,” Simon said, letting go of Dom’s wrists. “There’s no fun in beating a dead opponent. Look at him, he’s fucking done.”

“I’ve got one more thing planned, then I’ll leave,” Tom assured. His statement was then followed up by silence from the group, which was then succeeded by shocked gasps. 

“Tom, are you fucking crazy?” Simon asked, his voice a hushed whisper. “I get it, you hate the kid, but seriously. A fucking _knife?”_

I looked up, and saw Tom brandishing a small dagger – small enough to be easily concealed, but large enough to inflict serious bodily harm.

“Yeah,” Tom replied, nonchalant. He waved the knife around, as if to prove a point. “So fucking what? Didn’t we all agree that we wanted the kid to suffer as much as possible?”  
  
The question was met with stunned silence, which eventually concluded in Morgan letting go of Dom and inching away from Tom. Simon decided to do the same. 

“If you actually intend on hurting him with a knife, then I’m out,” Simon declared, backing away. “This is fucking illegal, Tom. Do you know how much shit you’re going to get us in?”

“We beat people up and get away with it.” Tom snorted, twirling the dagger in his hands. “All we have to do is piss off as soon as I’m done, and we should be good.”

“That’s a lie,” Morgan scoffed. “What makes you think that Bellamy and Howard won’t go running their mouths? Saying that they got in a fight is one thing. Saying that you’ve been stabbed – and presenting evidence to go with it – is another.”

“So? I’m the academic pride of Teignmouth,” Tom boasted. “They’ll believe everything I say. So, if I declare that Bellamy probably fell and impaled himself on something, they’ll believe it. You, as well.” 

Tom looked over at Dom, who was still kneeling on the ground, frozen in shock. 

“Now, get a hold of Lover Boy over there and let me finish-”

“We’re not mindless sheep, you arse,” Simon growled, balling his hands into fists. “How the fuck does someone just accidentally trip and impale himself? That’s a steaming load of horseshit; you know it as much as we do. No one’s going to believe that.” 

“We’ll come up with something convincing later. Now, fucking pick up-”

“No thanks, Tom, we’ll leave you to finish this. _Alone.”_ Morgan declared, tone cold. He made his way out of the school, with Simon and Emily trailing behind him. Dom was left on the ground, however Tom didn’t pay him any attention – instead, he turned back to face me. The anger that he’d expressed before had doubled, judging the ruthlessness in his expression, and the way that he was tightly clutching at my dagger.

“I ought to kill you right here and now,” Tom growled, yanking my head up and placing the flat of the blade against my throat. “The fuck did you do to make my group take your side?” 

“This is a fight in high school, not a murder scene,” Dom called out, regaining his composure and standing up. He was still extremely pale, but it seemed like the tears from earlier had gone away.

“Put the knife away, Tom. Before I report you to the Headmaster.” He demanded, voice unusually calm.  
  
“Oi, no one asked for your input, Dom.” Tom scowled. Sneering, he gradually increased the pressure that he put on my throat.

“Fucking hell,” I croaked, squirming in discomfort. Given my current state, it would be hard to fight against Tom and disarm him – judging from how my last self-defense attempt went, this one would also end off on a sour note. And I’d probably end up with a knife in my gut, too. 

Thankfully, the sound of the stairway door opening relieved some of the pressure. Noticing the noise, Tom quickly lessened the pressure on my throat, jerking his head in the direction of the stairwell in an attempt to see who’d interrupted his ‘fun session’.  
  
“So, I’m thinking we could arrange for a little interview, if he’s still here, that is.” A voice said, which sounded eerily similar to Mr. Foley’s. The door opened, revealing three significant figures of authority, which caused me to groan in dread and Tom to drop his knife, letting it clatter on the floor. 

_Fuck. Mr. Foley, the Community College headmaster, and the bloody Cambridge Academy headmaster – how shitty can this get?_

“Well, it turns out that Thomas Kirk is still, in fact, in the building,” the College headmaster said, approaching Tom with a stern look on his face. “Though this is a rather _unpleasant_ encounter, isn’t it?”

Turning to me, he surveyed my current appearance. Judging on the look of disbelief that slowly spread over his face, I didn’t look too well. Dom, noticing the situation, immediately took his place next to me, willing to defend me if necessary. Tom, on the other hand, had gone completely pale, eyes widening at the scene that unfolded before his eyes.

“I’ll take _Things I Hadn’t Expected To See_ for a million pounds,” Mr. Foley remarked, picking up Tom’s knife and examining it. Brow furrowed, he turned towards the Academy headmaster, twirling the blade as he went.

“Ah. Mr. Langley,” he started, turning to face the Academy headmaster. “This fine young gentleman here is Thomas Kirk. The one you – er, we were all looking for.”

“I see,” Mr. Langley responded, voice grave. He approached Tom and I, shooting steely glances between us two. He chose to remain silent and examine us, causing the tension to rise.  
  
“Matthew Bellamy,” he greeted, holding a hand out. “It’s been a while since I’d seen you. The Academy misses you greatly.” 

Nodding, I took his hand and shook it, however my current state prevented me from presenting a firm handshake.  
  
“The feeling is mutual, sir,” I croaked, trying to clear my throat. In response, Mr. Langley offered a smile and patted my back. Then, he turned to Tom, morphing his expression to one of sternness.

“I wanted to discuss your scholarship to Cambridge Academy, Thomas.” he started, voice firm. “However, judging by the beating that you’ve laid on Matthew here, we may have to reconsider.”

Tom’s eyes went wide, and he immediately started trembling and muttering a slew of apologies, accompanied by several bribes. All of that, however, was put to a stop when Mr. Langley raised his hand, clearly not in the mood for Tom’s bullshit.

“That’s enough,” he declared, motioning for the Mr. Foley and the College headmaster to move up and flank him.

“It’s because he’s your star student, right?” Tom shrieked, balling his hands into fists. “You don’t want to give a scholarship to the smart guy who wrecked his arse, right?”  
  
“No, that’s not the reason why.” Mr. Langley affirmed, twiddling his thumbs. “I simply can’t invite an overly aggressive student into the halls of the Academy.”

“That’s bullshit!” Tom exclaimed, eyes blowing wide.  
  
“Tom, that’s enough,” Mr. Foley warned, approaching Tom with a hard look. Turning to Mr. Langley and the College headmaster, he nodded to them, as if they’d all reached some silent agreement.

“We’re going to take this matter to my office,” the College headmaster announced, gesturing for Mr. Foley to lead Tom to the front of the school. Mr. Langley lagged behind and chose to examine Dom and I, his expression becoming quite unreadable.  
  
“Thomas has an outstanding academic record,” he started, taking a better look at my injuries. “It’s disappointing that his behavioural records aren’t as stellar, though. How hurt are you, Matthew?”

“I’ll live,” I responded, cracking a smile. “Think I’ve gotten worse while playing polo with Chris.”

Mr. Langley chuckled in response and offered a small clap on my shoulder.  
  
“Speaking of Chris, he hasn’t really been himself since you’ve left,” he said, scratching his chin. “I remember him storming into class one day and telling his friends about how he was going to lay a beating on that neighbour of yours.”

“Oh, uh, he… told you about that?” I asked, casting a nervous glance at Dom.  
  
“All in fairness, he didn’t notice that I was overshadowing his conversation,” Mr. Langley grinned, chuckling. “Anyways, I’d better get going. Do you want me to pass a message on to Chris, or any of your other friends?”

I paused to consider for a moment, and then smiled, amused with the message that I’d come up with.  
  
“Yeah.” I said. “Tell them that I’ll be back.”

“I hope you will, Matthew. Apply for next year’s scholarship, it’s an opportunity that’ll do your academic life wonders.” he responded, making his way towards the front of the school. Before leaving, he paused to regard Dominic, noting his below-average appearance.  
  
“Dominic Howard, right?” he asked.  
  
“Yes sir,” Dom replied, voice trembling.

“I found your scholarship application to be outstanding,” Mr. Langley said, smiling. “Keep an eye on your mailbox, alright? I have to go through some deliberations before making my final decision. Thomas, as you know, being unfit for a scholarship.”

“Uh, y-yes, sir,” Dom stammered, while watching Mr. Langley take off in the direction of the Headmaster’s office. Once he was out of sight, Dom turned towards me, eyes widening with worry. 

“Matt, we need to get you home,” he muttered, fussing over the numerous bruises that Tom had given me. 

“I’ll gladly oblige,” I responded, trying to take a look at myself. 

“You don’t know how painful that was to watch, love – er, M-M-Matt,” he stammered, pulling me into a tight embrace. “Matt. Yeah. Matt.”  
  
“Dom, watch it, I’m a bit sensitive,” I winced, trying to push him off of me. Muttering a slew of curses and apologies, Dom immediately let go of me, his look filled with pity and guilt.

“Anyways, what did you call me?” I smirked. “Love, was it?”  
  
“Shut up,” Dom muttered, while hastily making his way towards the front of the school. “I know, you don’t feel the same way." 

“Aw come on, Dom,” I pouted, trying my best to keep up with him, despite the pain that shot through my body. “Don’t be like that. I told you, I-”

“-disliked that stupid relationship more than I did,” Dom shot back, beaming. “So, what exactly happened? Emily told Tom that you’d uh, moaned-”  
  
“Your name?” I finished, going red. “Yeah. I did.” Embarrassed, I turned away from Dom, not wanting him to see my expression.  
  
We walked in silence, eventually getting out of the damned school, being instantly met with a fresh breeze. I sighed in relief, welcoming the fresh air – a quick glance to my left confirmed that Dom was also wallowing in the beauty of the town.

“So, you applied for an Academy scholarship, huh?” I asked him, raising an eyebrow. Dom nodded in response, suddenly taking an interest in the sidewalk.

“I-I’ve always wanted to go there,” he confessed, refusing to make eye contact. “I’ve been applying since I started high school. This year, though, I was a bit hesitant on applying.” I nodded in response, remembering that Dom’s mum had told a similar tale.

“Why? You’ll find that the Academy is loads better than the community college.”

“It’s because of you, Matt,” he said, voice quiet. “I don’t want to leave you.”

“Oh, uh, okay then.”

“No, you don’t really get it,” he sighed, finally making eye contact with me. “I’m not sure if you feel the same way about me, but I guarantee you, I’ll fucking love you until the end of time, Matthew Bellamy.”

“Dom, I-”  
  
“And it hurts, you know? Sure, you’ve moaned my name. But I can never be too sure about your feelings, Matt. You’ll probably move on to another girl in the coming months, start shagging another bloke or something, or just give up on relationships altogether, you know? And it hurts, it hurts so much, to be seeing you happy with your partner, knowing that I’ll never be the one for you-”

“Dom. Enough with your rambling.” I declared, cutting him off from justifying his feelings.  
  
“Matt, it just depresses me so much at times,” Dom sulked, shrinking. “I’m sorry.”

I held him back and we paused our journey home – I needed to make things right with him. I regarded him with a deflated gaze – his hurt expression, under the impression that I didn’t want him, hurt me more than Tom’s beating. I wanted to make him happy, make him feel the elation that he was craving.

“Dom, I’ve got to ask you something. Please don’t be offended, though.”

“W-What?” he stammered, confused.

“As Tom asked before,” I started, giving off a slight smile. “Do you like your boyfriends a little bloody?”

“What the hell are you saying, Matt?” Dom asked me, trembling with excitement. “Are you implying – are you asking me if-”

“If you can be my boyfriend?” I asked, grinning and taking his hands in mine. “Why yes, Dominic Howard. Yes, I am.”

The happiness that lit up Dom’s face brightened my day – hell, it brightened my year. Crying tears of joy, he nodded yes and threw his arms around me, wrapping me in another tight embrace. Wanting him to be as happy as possible, I tolerated the pain for a few seconds – until he took this as his cue to tighten the embrace, leaving me wincing and pushing him off of me again.

“Dom, please,” I winced. “I get that you’re happy, but remember, Tom decided to lay his wrath on me today.”

“Oh shit, sorry, Matt,” Dom responded. Deciding that it was time that we get going, he practically skipped down the sidewalk, chattering about all the cool things that we could do together – ranging from the most basic of dates near the seaside, or the dark things that would eventually follow, in the bedroom, that is.

The sight of Dom being so happy caused a warm feeling to course through my body, leaving me smiling at the sight. Sure, Tom had beat the shit out of me earlier today, but at this point, who cared?

No matter what crappy thing happened in my life, it’d all be okay in the end.

I had Dominic by my side, and I would never let him go, no matter what the circumstances.


	12. Chapter 12

“Matt, has anyone ever told you about how cute you are?”

We’d crashed at Matt’s place, much to his insistence – he didn’t want to stay at mine, out of fear that my parents would kick him out (even though they were both gone for the day). Thankfully, his Nan wasn’t home, so we could avoid being questioned about Matt’s face and our sudden relationship development. But, more importantly, Matt and I could finally have some alone time, which mattered most to me.

Matt had taken the time to tend to his bruises in the bathroom, and I was observing him, sitting on the (closed) toilet seat. I was ready to help him if needed – and be a conversation partner. 

“Are you telling me this to make me feel better?” he asked, removing his shirt to examine his bruises. Judging by his facial expression, his torso didn’t look too pretty – a quick glance into the bathroom mirror confirmed my suspicions. His stomach was painted several different sickly shades, which made my stomach churn in disgust.

_Tom, if only you could see what you’ve done to my beloved…_

“No,” I said, getting up to wrap him in a warm embrace. “I’m telling you ‘cause I mean it.”

“I feel the opposite,” he admitted, scanning his appearance in the mirror. “I look and feel absolutely disgusting.” Matt reached for a bottle of ointment sitting on the counter and proceeded to uncap it, squirting the ointment on his fingers and creating a nice lather.

“What if I told you that I’m attracted to it?”

“Then you’re a guy with queer tastes,” Matt chuckled. He proceeded to rub the ointment on his numerous bruises, causing him to wince in the process.

“Well, no shit,” I grinned. “I’m gay, after all. It’s only natural that I have queer tastes.” 

“Ha ha, you’re a funny one,” Matt grumbled. He finished rubbing the ointment on his bruises, capped the bottle, and carelessly chucked it on the counter. Clearly done with taking care of himself, he stormed out of the bathroom, leaving his school jumper on the counter.  
  
“Matt, come on,” I called, picking up his jumper and running towards him. “Did I seriously offend you with my joke?”

My question was met with nothing but silence, which only confirmed my statement. _Well shit, I’ve gone and offended him again… but how, exactly?_

I cautiously stepped into Matt’s room, scanning it for any signs of Matt. Much to my surprise, the wanker was sitting on his desk chair and was casually typing away on his laptop, as if nothing had happened.

“You’re an interesting one,” I said, raising an eyebrow. I made my way over to where he was working and took a suspicious glance over his shoulder, reading what he was typing on the screen.

“After a few months, you’re still not over the entire government thing?” I chuckled. I turned my gaze over to the adjacent wall – the previous sticky notes and pictures were replaced with a full-on flow chart. The notes about the MK events that I’d seen a few months ago were connected to a several other government events.

“No,” Matt admitted, standing up to admire his giant flow chart. “I hadn’t told anyone else about it, though. It’s a well-guarded secret." 

“Wait, so I’m the only one to know about your hobby?” I asked, incredulous. Matt nodded in response and shot me a wonky smile, causing me to blush in response. I felt rather honoured that I was the only one that he trusted with his little hobby. It made me feel like he really trusted me, even with information that could put him on some sort of government list.

“How about your nan? Does she know?” I asked. Ignoring the giant flowchart on his room would be a chore, considering that the only other ‘decoration’ piece was an old poster. If she decided to prance into Matt’s room, then concerns about the chart would definitely arise.

“I told you, you’re the only one who knows about this,” Matt replied. “I don’t usually invite my nan in here. She doesn’t really bother me up here, too.”  
  
“Do you plan on telling anyone else?”  
  
“I have no reason to.” Matt shrugged, before sitting back down at his desk. He continued typing away at whatever he was doing.

Our conversation was quickly overthrown by silence. It wasn’t the kind of awkward silence that usually took place though; it was comfortable silence. The kind of silence that made you feel at ease.

The entire scenario was enough to make me feel at peace, despite the fight that happened earlier today. The English exam and Tom’s revenge seemed like they’d taken place on a separate day – during a separate era, even. The new development in Matt and I’s relationship signalled the beginning of a new ‘chapter’ of my life, spent with a guy that I hadn’t imagined falling for.

I suppose it all started when Matt first arrived at Teignmouth. I’d first laid eyes on him when I spotted his taxi when I was chilling with Tom and his crew. There was something about him that managed to activate my protective instincts; from that moment on, I just knew that I had to protect him. Why that protective instinct eventually developed into affectionate feelings for the bloke… I had no idea.

Things didn’t really go to plan, though; of course, there was the entire dinner party disaster to consider. To make matters worse, he’d manage to get on the Community College’s bad side on his first day of school, which made ‘protecting’ him a lot more difficult.

As time went on, a lot of mistakes were made on my part – mistakes that I was sure disallowed me from ever becoming close to Matt. I’d just have to stay satisfied with Tom’s twisted company, and Matt would have to remain the lonely person that Teignmouth had turned him into.

Thankfully, I was wrong. Loneliness – for the both of us – was now over. 

“Dom? What are you doing?”

Shocked, I blinked out of my daydream and widened my eyes at what I was currently doing. I was too lost in thought to realize that I had been subconsciously running my hands through Matt’s hair – this caused the brunette to look up at me, his beautiful blue eyes showing nothing but confusion.  
  
“Sorry,” I said sheepishly, reluctantly taking my hands away from his head. “Got a little carried away there while thinking about some stuff.”

“So that was a bit of an autopilot thing?” Matt asked, raising an eyebrow in question. 

“Yeah. It was. Sorry,” I apologized once again, dreading Matt’s response. He’d probably tease me about the action, or he’d chew me out for touching his hair without his consent.

“Wonder what you’d start doing when you’re horny and happen to be sitting – or lying down – next to me,” he nonchalantly replied. I was left to gape at him in surprise, while he got up from his chair and stretched, letting out a hearty chuckle in the process.

“Holy shit,” I muttered, trying to process what he’d just said. While my mind was still attempting to wrap itself around Matt’s remark, my body had completely understood his remark and had other ideas. Embarrassed with myself, I attempted to pull my jumper over my crotch, hoping that Matt wouldn’t notice.

“So, uh, want me to order some pizza?” Matt asked. He raised an eyebrow and quickly noticed my flustered appearance, causing him to chuckle once again. 

I nodded in response, my current state making it near impossible to speak about anything else. I expected Matt to leave the room to call the pizza place, however he just stared at me expectantly, raising an eyebrow.

“Dom, what kind?” He asked, tapping his foot impatiently.

“Oh, uh, a cheap pepperoni is fine,” I responded timidly, going red. I gave myself a little kick in the shin. _Dammit Dom, get a hold of yourself! One statement and it’s like your brain turned to mush…_

“Cheap pepperoni?” Matt giggled, raising an eyebrow. “Loosen up a bit, Dom. The pizza’s on me.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to break the bank-”

“Dom.” Matt interrupted, his tone serious. “My parents take extravagant vacations every fucking week. It really isn’t a hassle.”

“Fine,” I relented, throwing a pillow at his head. “Get me a deluxe pizza, Mr. Rich Kid.”

“Much better,” Matt grinned. He grabbed his mobile off of his desk and went downstairs, which left me standing awkwardly in the middle of his room.

Not wanting to remain alone in Matt’s room, I made my way downstairs and to the living room, expecting to see Matt lounging on the sofa, however I was stopped when I caught sight of a particular photo hanging on the wall.

Matt was standing with another bloke that I didn’t recognize – maybe a friend of his? The unknown lad was taller than Matt was, and had a visibly heavier build than Matt.

Squinting, I examined the photo, in the hopes that I’d recognize the guy standing next to Matt. Upon closer examination, I’d realized that the bloke was a carbon copy of Matt – save for the different body type, that is.  
  
“That’s Paul, my brother,” Matt said, his voice swelling with pride. I spun around to face him, and saw that he was grinning and approaching me, eyes trained on the photo. “He goes to Oxford.”

“Dude, that’s awesome,” I smiled, my eyes widening in awe. “I swear, you’re family’s filled with geniuses.”

Matt chuckled in response and clapped me on the back, causing me to wince at the gesture.

“That’s not a lie,” he grinned, guiding me towards the couch. “Come on, Dom. Let’s watch a film or something.”

We made our way over to the living room couch. Matt decided to kick his feet up on the ottoman, while I got the telly remote and started flicking through the channels, searching for something that would please us both. 

“Hey, Dom?” Matt asked, tapping me on the shoulder. 

“Yeah?” I replied, setting the remote on the ottoman and wanting to listen to whatever Matt had to say.

“I think that you and my brother would get along pretty well,” Matt continued, his voice rising in excitement. “Well, to be honest, Paul gets along with anyone who isn’t a douchebag towards me,” he said, a large grin appearing on his face.

“He’s your protector, then?” I asked Matt, raising an eyebrow in question.  
  
“Yeah. He was my protector.” Matt answered, moving closer to me. “Back at the Academy, he’d always make sure that I was safe, and if anyone wanted to get into a fight with me, he’d be there to have my back…”

Matt went on to talk about how him and his brother were closer than any other sibling duo out there, mainly due to the absence of his parents. My heart shot up when Matt spoke of funny moments that had taken place between the two – his movements becoming more animated, his voice taking on a lighter tone, and I cringed every time he spoke about something that involved him or his brother getting in some form of trouble.

Hearing Matt speak about his family was interesting, to say the least. Every now and then, he’d mention his parents – however, he didn’t seem to recall them in the same way that he did with Paul.

“Uh, Matt, what’s up with you and your parents?” I asked, after Matt had mentioned a parent-less Christmas for the millionth time. The question had taken Matt aback. All his animations from earlier were put to an abrupt halt and he turned towards me, his look similar to that of a deer caught in headlights.

“Did they abandon you and your brother?” I asked again, wanting to know why he spoke of his parents so harshly. It was hard to believe that a pair of terrible parents had created the masterpiece that I know as Matt, or the goofball that he made Paul out to be.

“Sure, you can say that,” Matt shrugged, putting his hands behind his head. “As soon as I was old enough to attend school, they stuck Paul and I in the Academy, leaving us to be raised by the British school system.”

“And before the Academy? Did you guys spend time together at all?” I continued.

“No,” Matt stated flatly. “Paul and I lived somewhere else. We lived here in Teignmouth, if what my Nan says is true. We only saw our parents on Christmas, and whenever they decided to acknowledge their two kids and take a break from the partying. Which, wasn’t too often, I suppose. I dunno, my memory’s a bit hazy.”

“So the neglect still continues, then.”

“Yeah, it does. Most kids would rejoice if their parents disappear for a day, week, or couple of years – but in our case, it kinda hurt.”

“What do you mean?” 

Matt turned to me, his look blank.

“Dom. You have a stellar family. You have parents that adore you and everything you do, they let you know that you’re loved on a daily basis, you know?” He started, seeming more agitated than before. 

“Yeah, I guess…”

“And then there’s me and my brother. My brother’s case wasn’t so bad – my parents actually cared about how well he did in school, and were sure to praise him whenever they were pleased with him.”

“What about you, then?” I asked him, nervous. The idea of deadbeat parents disgusted me – the idea of one of my friends having a set of deadbeat parents just upset me.

Matt chuckled. His chuckle was a hollow rasp that gave off no feeling of happiness.  
  
“I don’t fucking know what I was there for,” he responded, throwing his arms up in the air. “Like Tom said earlier, I’m probably here ‘cause my mum didn’t bother getting an abortion for me,” he continued, his hands balling into fists. He started to tremble, much to my surprise.

“Matt, calm down,” I pleaded, taking his balled fist into my hand. “Don’t let Tom’s insults get to you, you know that they’re probably not true-”

“Do you know how much it hurts, when your parents fucking visit for the second time in a year, only to express interest in how your fucking sibling is doing in school?” He asked, his tone gaining a dangerous edge. “Do you know how much it hurts when you tell them about your high grades, but get nothing more than a half-arsed ‘that’s nice, Matthew’? Do you know-”

“Matt, that’s enough,” I interrupted, not wanting to hear about his struggles any longer. “I’m sorry for getting you worked up like this. I shouldn’t have started on about your family in the first place.”

“I-It’s fine,” Matt breathed. He pried his hand away from my grip and held his head in his hands in an attempt to calm himself down. “The lack of attention hurts, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t miss them,” he said, his voice small.

In an attempt to help Matt calm down, I started rubbing his back, which resulted in a relieved sigh.

“It’s alright to miss your parents, Matt,” I said, making my voice as soft as possible. “But, on the other hand, your Nan’s here to act as your parent figure. And if her company fails to satisfy, I’ll be here for you. Always.”

Before Matt could reply, the doorbell rang. The noise was enough to jolt Matt awake from his daydream. He sprung up and quickly searched his pocket for something, all while making his way towards the front door.

“Pizza’s here,” he called, his voice seeming a lot less agitated than before.

I scooped up the television remote and started to flip through the channels once again. This time, I focused on finding a lighthearted film that could help the both of us take our mind off of our previous interaction. Matt could use some happiness – the bloke needed it, after the recent events that had taken place in his life.

After what seemed like an eternity, I came to rest on a channel that was showing _Monsters Inc._ Satisfied with the discovery, I tossed the remote back onto the ottoman and waited for Matt to arrive with the pizza, my stomach sending out a silent plea to ‘hurry up’. 

“Your lunch has arrived, Your Majesty.” Matt announced, after a few minutes of waiting. I turned to face him, and he was carrying two boxes of pizza in one hand, and a small paper bag in the other. “Deluxe for the lazy fuck, and a nice Hawaiian for me.”

“Oi, I’m not lazy,” I protested, watching Matt take a seat beside me. He handed me a box of pizza and a can of soda and managed a lazy chuckle.

“Says the guy who didn’t bother helping me gather the pizza,” Matt replied, opening his pizza box and turning his attention to the film playing on the telly.

“Excuse you, last time I checked, I wasn’t your butler, Mr. Rich Kid,” I scoffed, turning to the television. I tore a nice-sized pizza slice out of my box and bit into it, the many flavours of Deluxe pizza assaulting my taste buds.

“You’re right. You’re my boyfriend.” Matt replied, turning to me and smirking. He set his pizza box on the ottoman and scooted closer to me, until he was close enough to lean on my shoulder.

“You’re an interesting one,” I muttered, before setting my pizza box next to his and wrapping a protective arm around Matt’s shoulder. I pulled him closer to me, careful not to dirty our clothes with pizza sauce.

“Thanks, Dom,” he grinned, turning to face me with a tomato-sauce stained smile. He turned back to the television, directing his attention back towards the movie. “What kind of fuzzy monster film is this?” 

“It’s _Monsters Inc,”_ I replied, surprised that he didn’t recognize the film. Its protagonists were hard to confuse for something else, and were pretty iconic. Unless…

“Matt, have you seen this movie before?” I asked, still in disbelief over his failure to recognize the film.  
  
“No,” was his simple reply, before he got up to snatch his second slice of pizza. “I haven’t.”

“Oh boy,” I grinned, pulling him back and rubbing his hair. “You’re in for a wild ride.”

“Wait, why?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. “Dom? What happens in this movie?”

I didn’t reply, instead choosing to watch the film in silence. I had the movie to focus on, and food – Matt’s questions can be answered later.  
  
“Dom? Hello? Earth to Dom?”

“Don’t worry about it,” I finally replied, trying to keep my voice as calm as possible. “It’s a great film, you’ll see. Now, shut up and watch.”

* * *

“Great film, my ass!” Matt screamed, chucking one of his Nan’s throw pillows at the television screen. “That purple-faced arse just got them kicked out of the bloody company!”

Matt then went on a minute-long rant about how the movie was a ‘prime example of injustice in the workplace’. Unfortunately, his rant completely overshadowed the movie, much to my displeasure.  
  
“Matt, let’s just watch the movie, please,” I pleaded, just as Matt was about to start another rant about Monsters Inc’s lack of a job supervisor.

He grumbled and reluctantly shut up, instead getting up to throw our empty pizza boxes away. After a few minutes of doing God-knows-what in the kitchen, he finally returned to the living room, picking up the pillow that he threw at the television.  
  
“You coming down from your little meltdown?” I smirked, watching Matt make his way over back to the couch.

In response, Matt stopped in his tracks whipped the pillow at me. It struck me in the face, causing me to jerk my head back in shock.

“Bloody hell,” I cursed, staring at Matt, who was busy dying of laughter. “Why was that necessary, Matt?”

“They don’t call them ‘throw pillows’ without reason,” he giggled, before making his way over to the couch and plopping down next to me.

“Har, har, you’re hilarious,” I grumbled, before pulling him close to me. “Now, are we going to shut up and watch, or are you going to get all angry again?”

Instead of replying, Matt chose to rest his head on my shoulder and remained silent, allowing us to watch the movie in peace.

We continued to watch the movie in silence, save for a few snickers at hidden sexual innuendos or offhand remarks about characters that we didn’t like. Thankfully, Matt chose not to go off on another rant about something that he felt wasn’t right, nor did he choose to whack me in the face with another pillow.

Before we knew it, the credits started to run. Having had enough of being cooped up in one position for an extended amount of time, Matt broke free of my embrace and stretched, making a noise that was similar to that of a baby dinosaur.

“You’re such a nerd,” I chuckled, before getting up and doing the same thing (well, minus the dinosaur noises).

“That’s nice,” Matt responded, before crashing back down on the couch and stretching out, covering the entire surface and making it impossible for me to sit comfortably.

“Move, you arse,” I teased, attempting to move his legs off of the couch. “Once you move, we’ll watch another movie.”

Matt grunted in response and ignored my request, instead choosing to turn away from me and face the back of the couch. Sighing, I picked the remote up to check what was playing next – a quick search of the cable guide confirmed that yet another Pixar film was slated to play.

“Matt, the next movie was made by the same company that made this film,” I said, staring down at his resting form. “Do you want to watch it, or do you want me to find another film?” 

“Yes, let’s watch it,” came Matt’s muffled reply. He turned around to face me, a smile on his face. 

“Then move your scrawny arse so I can sit,” I chuckled, picking up his legs and forcefully moving them off of the couch. Mumbling complaints, Matt shifted so that I could fit on the couch – without sitting on any part of his body, that is.

We began to watch the next film in a similar position. Matt was resting his head on my shoulder, and I was more than happy to hold him close to me.

Humming with happiness, I pressed Matt closer to my body and continued to watch the movie, making sure to savour every moment of our little ‘film date’.

* * *

“So, that’s it,” I announced, as the credits started to roll. “What now?”

Surprisingly, Matt didn’t reply.

“Matt? Are you alright?” 

I shifted a bit so that Matt was no longer resting on my shoulder. Without the additional support, the bloke crashed down on the other side of the sofa, not seeming to be bothered by the sudden movement.

A quick glance to his face confirmed that he was sleeping. He looked so peaceful, and quite unlike the person that he was when he was awake. When he was awake, he always seemed like his mood would change with the flick of a switch (and it did). When asleep, he appeared to only house one emotion – tranquility.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and took a quick look at the time. I grimaced, realizing that Mum and Dad would be home any minute now.  
  
I wanted to say a proper goodbye to Matt and thank him for letting me crash at his, but I didn’t want to disturb the nap that he deserved…

Trying to get this over with as soon as possible, I combed the living room for a piece of paper and a pen. After about a minute of searching, I produced a pad of sticky notes and a pen that were sitting amongst a pile of cooking magazine and scribbled down a quick note:

_Hey Matt, had to leave and didn’t want to disturb you. See you soon, you loveable nerd :) –Dom x_

I ripped the note off the pad, stuck it to Matt’s hand, and quickly exited the house, grabbing my school stuff in the process.

I left Matt’s place with a happy feeling in my stomach, extremely pleased at today’s events. Sure, today got off to a horrible start, but the events that followed were enough to make up for the sour start.

If our first time as an official couple produced such amazing results, I absolutely couldn’t wait for the good moments that were to follow – they were bound to be even better than our little movie date.

With ideas running through my mind, I burst into my house, brimming with excitement. Fortunately, Mum and Dad didn’t seem to be home yet, leaving me to run up to my room, shut the door, and be completely alone, left to mingle with the creative juices flowing through my brain.

I pulled a notebook and pen out of my schoolbag and opened it to a fresh page, grinning. Not letting any idea escape my mind, I scrawled down various date ideas – ranging from the innocent ideas to the not-so-innocent – on the page, with my handwriting getting messier with every passing word.

I wrote, I wrote, and I wrote, hoping that Matt would enjoy some of these ideas that I would try my hardest to make happen.


	13. Chapter 13

_Shit, I really hope that he’s still awake at this time…_

I put on a black hoodie and a pair of dark trousers, and quietly made my way downstairs, trying my best to make as little noise as possible. A few days ago, Dom had willingly come over to Nan’s place and offered to keep me company. I stupidly fell asleep during our little ‘date’, being the inconsiderate person that I was. 

Now, I was determined to make it up to him – even if it meant sneaking over to his place in the middle of the night.

I quickly put on a pair of shoes and slipped out of the house. I knew where I was going to go; if Dom’s house had the same layout as Nan’s, then the window to his bedroom would be located on the side of the Howards’ house. Thankfully, the Howards’ side lawn was a somewhat large piece of grass that housed a large tree suitable for climbing, among other shrubbery.

Trying my best to make as little noise as possible, I jogged over to the tree next to the Howards’ place and hoisted myself up on the branch closest to the ground.

Panting, I slumped against the tree trunk. I’d misjudged the amount of effort that it took to climb something as simple as a tree. Judging by the ache in my arms and my heavy breathing, I was extremely out of shape.

_Bloody hell. I’d thought that it would take longer for me to lose all my athletic ability._

I looked up, squinting in the dark in an attempt to make out the shape of other branches that I could climb.

_One more branch and you’ll be next to Dom’s room. You can do this, Matt._

I got up from my current position, put my hood up, and jumped in an attempt to grab the next branch and hoist myself up. Fortunately, I was able to grab the branch and pull myself up, straddling the branch in the process. Unfortunately, I made a ton of noise while doing so, and cursed myself for it. The loud rustle of leaves and the snap of smaller branches were hard to miss.

Hoping that the noise didn’t raise attention, I inched closer to Dom’s bedroom window, careful not to draw any more attention to my self. I peered into the window, and caught sight of a dark figure stirring in the room.

Then the lights flicked on, and I found myself temporarily blinded by the unexpected change in brightness. Cursing, I shielded my eyes with my arms, causing me to wobble on the branch due to the lack of balance.

Noticing my presence, Dom immediately walked up to his bedroom window and opened it, his eyes growing wide at the surprise visit.

“Matt?” he breathed. “What the bloody hell are you doing outside of my bedroom at-” Dom took a glance over at the clock on his desk, his figure becoming more distressed once he caught a glimpse of the time. “-midnight?”

“Wanna hang out?” I asked, cracking a smile. Not wanting to become a pancake on the Howards’ lawn, I lowered my arms and clutched at the tree branch, ignoring the bark that was currently digging into my hand.

Dom sighed and shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Matt, it’s midnight. I want to sleep.” He looked at me with a look of pity and turned away from the open window, presumably to tell me to _go away._

It was going to take a lot more than that to get me to leave.  
  
“Can we just spend an hour together?” I asked, inching closer to the open window.

Dom considered for a moment. After a few seconds, he approached the window and held his arm out, sighing.

“Fine,” he relented. “But don’t make too much noise. I don’t want my parents to know that you’re here.” 

I eagerly took his arm and hopped into the room. Thankfully, the branch didn’t make too much noise once it was free of my weight.

I made my way over to Dom’s bed and crashed down on it, stretching out. Hey, my body needed to relax after a bit, after performing the painful task that was climbing a tree.  
  
“So, what’s up?” I grinned, shooting a look at Dominic. Unlike me, he didn’t seem to be in too much of a good mood – he was staring at me in annoyance, his current expression reminding me of the days when he was acting as Tom’s groupie.

“Seriously, it’s midnight,” Dom complained, taking a seat at the foot of the bed. “It couldn’t wait until tomorrow? I’m tired.”

I pouted. I was hoping that Dom’d be eager to spend time with me, but judging by the way he was acting right now, it seemed the opposite. It sucked, too; I took the time to stay up late just to spend time with him and he couldn’t even appreciate it. It was nothing but saddening.  
  
“Alright, if that’s the case then, I’ll leave,” I shot, rolling my eyes. “Nice hanging out with you, Mr. Sunshine.” I got up and started to make my way over to the window, grimacing at the fact that I had to climb down the stupid tree once again.

“Wait,” Dom called. He made his way over to me and spun me around, so that I was facing him. “Don’t you have something to tell me?”

“No,” I replied. “I just wanted to spend time with you. Before school starts back up again, that is.”

Silence hung in the air. Dom’s eyes widened, and he looked like he was about to collapse on the spot – whether it was due to shock or that warm love feeling, I couldn’t say.

“You wanted to spend time with me?” Dom asked, taken aback. “I-I get that we’re a thing and all, but it seems like-”

“Shut up, you idiot,” I chuckled, before pulling him into a hug. “Like I told you a while back, I’m not all academics and anger.”

“But Matt-”

“Didn’t we hang out together just to eat pizza and watch movies?” I asked him, holding him closer to me. “And I actually liked it, Dom. Loosen up a bit.”

Dom leaned on my shoulder in response and gave off a satisfied hum; it sent tingling sensations throughout my body, leaving me smiling in response.

I’d never thought that I’d find myself in a relationship with another guy, especially Dom. Dom was the first bloke I’d caught feelings for, so the idea of a gay relationship was something that was unknown and a bit frightening, to be honest.

Being in this kind of relationship was nothing but satisfying for me. I’d never thought I’d find myself thinking this, but: I loved him. Sure, ‘love’ was a word that wasn’t to be taken lightly, but I can’t use any other word to describe the feelings that I had for him. I could finally be myself around him, and it drove him mad – in turn, it made me feel amazing, knowing that someone in this lonely town _actually_ liked me and my personality.

“Are we going to stand here all night?” Dom asked, slowly lifting his head from my shoulder. “I want to do more. Something more interesting.”

“What do you want?” I asked, looking at him with a suspicious look. I had an idea of what he wanted to do, but I wanted to make sure we were on the same page first.  
  
“There’s a bed, Matt.” Dom said, as if I’d gone and answered his question with a statement that was beyond stupid.  
  
“And? I’m not interested in any sex, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

“Oh, uh, then maybe we could just cuddle,” Dom said, immediately going red. He took my arm and led me towards his bed, and I gave in without protest.

Dom plopped down on his bed and pulled me with him, causing me to crash down on top of Dom. Wincing, I shifted so that I wasn’t on top of the bloke and lied down next to him, making sure that there was enough free space between us.  
  
“Sorry for trampling you,” I apologized, before giving off a big yawn. 

Dom simply hummed in response and turned towards me, throwing his arms around my torso. “S’okay Matty, don’t worry about it.”

We remained silent for a while, letting our actions speak volumes. Dom had taken to stroking my hair once again, as I shifted and nuzzled my head against his chest, much to his pleasure.

“I love you so much, you don’t even know,” Dom murmured. “Alright, I was a bit cranky when you visited me in the black of night. Being woken from sleep does that to you. But regardless of that, I still want to be with you as much as possible.”

I yawned and hugged Dom tighter, pleased that he was professing his love for me yet again. “Really, Dom? You really enjoy being around me?”

“Yeah, why can’t you see it?” he sighed, moving up to plant a kiss on my cheek. “I’ve been loving you since, well, I don’t know. I’ve been feeling this way about you for a while. I wanted nothing more than to make you happy, ‘cause you always look so miserable when you’re out and about-” 

“Dom. Thank you. It really does mean a lot, especially considering the fact that everyone hates me around here.”

“Not me,” Dom grinned, before planting yet another kiss on my cheek. “I’ll always be here for you, Matt.”

“I guess I’ll do the same,” I responded. 

“Matt?”

“Hm?” 

“C-Can we just stay like this? For a while? We can just talk about random stuff or whatever.” 

I mhm-ed in response, and Dom started chattering endlessly about several things, ranging from the recent song he’d learned how to drum (apparently, before exams, he found himself a band to join and was having a blast), to the recent failed recipe that his mum whipped up.

I didn’t want to interrupt him, instead choosing to listen carefully to whatever he decided to go on and on about. It turns out that I knew next to nothing about the bloke. His favourite colour was blue. His favourite band was Queen. His favourite cheese was Brie. Small fun facts about him were shared, and in turn, I told him some small facts about myself.

Things took a little bit of a weird turn when he mentioned our relationship and how he’d been planning out a bunch of dates that we could go on. Sure, it flattered me, knowing that he’d been putting a bunch of time into making sure that this relationship lasted, but at the same time, going out with Dom and making our relationship public just seemed… _weird._  

“Matt, I’ve a question for you,” Dom said, after explaining the basics of a date that’d take place by the pier.

“Yeah?” I yawned, trying my best to stretch in the confined space. Dom’s bed wasn’t large by any means, so the both of us were practically stuck together; but I enjoyed having physical contact with him.

“How long are you staying in Teignmouth?” he asked nervously, looking at me with curious grey eyes.  
  
“For a while,” I chuckled. I pulled Dom into a tight hug, leaving him humming with happiness once again. “I don’t see my parents pulling me of here out any time soon.”

“Good,” Dom said, before burying his face into my shoulder. “I don’t want to be separated from you. Ever. You mean the world to me.”

“Thank you, Dom,” I hummed, absentmindedly stroking his back. “I like you too. A lot.”

“Don’t leave,” he begged, attempting to further bury himself in my hoodie. “Please, Matt, don’t ever leave.” 

“Don’t worry, Dom. I won’t,” I murmured.

“I’ll be with you until the end of time.”

* * *

_Holy shit, last night was one hell of a night._

“Good morning, Matthew. Are you ready for school? The first day of second semester sounds mighty exciting!” 

Groggy, I looked up from my bowl of cereal and at the cheery figure of Nan, who was bounding into the kitchen, a smile on her face. She appeared to be twiddling her thumbs – a sure sign that she was excited about something that was to be taking place in the near future.

_But I have to leave for school in a bit… what plans does she have that can be done before I head out the door?_

Not wanting to hear about what fantastic news she had (my sleep-deprived mind not in the mood for anything), I diverted my attention back towards the cereal bowl, shoving cereal in my mouth in a half-arsed attempt to get myself nourished.  
  
“You look like you’ve gotten absolutely no sleep,” Nan scolded, taking a seat across from me. “You look horrible right now.” She leaned over and attempted to sort my messy hair, continuing to lecture me about the benefits of getting a good night’s sleep.

“Stop,” I rasped, dropping my spoon in the bowl and swatting Nan’s hand away. “I’ll sort it out. Eventually.”

Nan reluctantly removed her hands from my head and continued to watch me eat, sighing in frustration."  
  
“Why do you look so tired?” She asked, tapping the table in an attempt to keep me awake. 

I looked up from my breakfast and smiled, recalling the events that had taken place the night before. I’d almost fallen asleep at Dom’s place, but thankfully, he’d managed to wake me up before I dozed off. Unfortunately, I left his place at around five in the morning – leaving me only a mere hour of sleep.

I didn’t care if I got next to sleep; I spent time with Dom. He’d made excellent company for the evening, and we got some quality bonding time in. 

“Matthew? Why are you smiling? Did you do something that’s relatively illegal?”  
  
“No,” I responded, dropping my gaze back to my cereal. “Just thinking about a friend of mine.”

“It’s nice to see that you’ve found someone that can make you smile,” Nan replied, chuckling. “You need some happiness in your life.”

“I guess,” I shrugged, finishing the last of my breakfast and getting up to place the bowl in the sink. “I’m gonna head to school. See you later, Nan.”

I made my way towards the front door and slipped a pair of dress shoes on, wanting to leave the house as soon as possible. It’s not that I didn’t want to be around Nan; I wanted to see Dom. And see what other compliments he had up his sleeve, of course.

“Matthew, are you going to be walking with Dominic?” Nan called, just as I was about to slip out the door.

“Of course,” I grinned. I gave Nan a last goodbye wave and left the house. I jogged out onto the street, and was greeted by the sight of Dom, who looked absolutely stunning. Surprisingly, he didn’t look the least bit tired.

“Morning, Dom,” I greeted, before giving him a small hug. “You’re not tired at all?”  
  
“Yeah,” he yawned, kissing me on the cheek. “Last night was worth it, though. I loved every second of it.” 

“Me too,” I grinned, taking his hand into mine and staring into his eyes. “Anyways, shall we get going?” 

Dom nodded in response. “Sure. Don’t let go of my hand, please. Just showing the world that we’re a couple sends shivers down my spine. I love you so fucking much, Matt.” 

“Likewise, Dom.” 

His hand entwined with mine, we walked towards the Community College, ready to tackle the day. Together.

* * *

Two very fast periods later, Dom and I found ourselves eating lunch on the front steps of the school, chattering about the first classes of the second half of the school year. Dom was pretty pleased with how school was going for him; his teachers seemed rather enjoyable. Sadly, we didn’t share any classes together – but lost time can always be made up outside of school.

“So, what ended up happening to our dear friend Tom?” I asked, taking a bite out of my sandwich. “I’m kinda surprised that you didn’t mention him.”

Dom simply shrugged and looked at me with an apathetic look. “I talked to Morgan before heading to class this morning.”

“And?”

“He told me that Tom got expelled,” Dom whispered, looking around to ensure that no one else was listening into our conversation. “The entire school knows about it.”

I chuckled. The little bastard had it coming. After all, he did pull a knife on me and nearly beat me senseless. I was glad that Dom and I didn’t have to deal with his bullshit anymore; it’d definitely make finishing the school year a lot easier.

“Why whisper the news?” I smiled, taking Dom’s hand. “We’re free, Dom. Free from his torment.” 

Dom looked around, nervous. He shook his head vigorously and gripped my hand tight, making me wince in pain.  
  
“Emily’s running her mouth again, Matt. The entire school thinks that you’re the reason why Tom got kicked out.”

I grimaced and silently cursed. _She’s really hellbent on getting revenge, huh?_

“So, what exactly does this mean for me?” I asked, curious. During class, no one dared challenge me to another fight, nor did they whisper and point fingers. They probably didn’t care too much about Emily’s rumours.

“People don’t want to associate with you anymore,” Dom said, hanging his head in sadness. “They all think you’re a manipulative person who’d do anything to get his way. Of course, no one wants to hang out with that kind of person.”

I dropped my sandwich in surprise, my eyes widening at Dom’s explanation. I mean, the school wasn’t really wrong about my manipulativeness, but I felt that the school’s reaction to the news was a bit exaggerated. _As if Tom himself wasn’t manipulative._

My mind wandered back to my first and second-period classes. Now that I think about it, a lot of people couldn’t keep their eyes off of me, but they didn’t really say anything to my face…

“Wait. What do Tom’s expulsion and my ‘personality’ have in common? What did Emily tell everyone?”

Dom shrugged. “She told everyone that you lied about Tom in order to get him in trouble, and that you started waving your Academy origin around in order to get your way.”

“Um, what?”

Dom stood up abruptly, causing me to raise an eyebrow in question. He jutted out his hip and started to flail his arms.

“I’m Matthew Bellamy,” he started, putting on a girlish accent. “And I’m from the Cambridge Academy, so if you don’t bow down to my intelligence then there’ll be hell to deal with!” 

He meant to make me laugh; however I wasn’t buying the joke. “Not funny. And I do _not_ sound like that.”

“It was a joke,” Dom sulked, sitting back down on the step. “And you were supposed to laugh at it.”

I stared at him, incredulous. “Ha, ha,” I said, rolling my eyes. “There. I laughed. Are you happy?”

Dom stared at me and shook his head. “You need to lighten up, Mr. I’m-So-Serious.” 

I balled up the tin foil that was wrapped around my sandwich and chucked it at Dom, causing him to look at me in anger.  
  
“Dominic, are we really fighting over the fucking comedic value of a joke?”

Dom chuckled in response and scooted closer to me, leaning on my shoulder. “Yeah. But it’s the stupid arguments that bring us closer.”

“Can’t say I disagree,” I grinned, wrapping an arm around him. We sat in silence, choosing to observe the ongoing events of lunch at the Community College. Several students were just clumped in groups, chattering away about some random subjects, while others were attempting to do skateboarding tricks on the curb.

Then there were the couples. Like Dom and I.

As Dom attempted to snuggle closer to my body, I thought about how we both came to be. I didn’t intend on dating him in the first place – but I guess the blonde wanker’s charms were too much for me to handle.

So I gave in. I guess I was giving in to his charms since my days with Emily… but I gave in.

And boy, did it pay off for the both of us.

“Matt, what are you thinking about? You’re completely zoned out.”

I turned to face Dom, who was watching me intently. Apparently I’d been daydreaming for a while, judging by the confused look on his face.  
  
“Mmm,” I hummed, pulling him closer. “Thinking about you. About us.”

Dom chuckled and playfully pushed me away. Eyes growing wide, I stared at him, wondering why he’d do such a thing – after trying to get as close as possible a few moments ago.  
  
“That’s funny,” Dom laughed, wiping fake tears from his eyes. “Remember when we first met? When you said that you weren’t interested in hanging out with me?”

I continued to stare at him with wide eyes, suddenly remember the dinner party and the aftermath of its events. _Oh shit, the apology that I’d completely forgotten about – dammit, Matt! Get yourself together!_

I scratched the back of my head and blushed. “Oh, yeah, I’m really sorry about the stuff I said on that night. I take all that back now, seeing where we are now-”

Dom laughed once again and threw his arm over my shoulder, grinning. “Relax, Matt! That’s all useless bullshit that happened a lifetime ago. Look at us now, love. We hated each other before, but now, not so much.”

He gave off a heavy sigh and looked into the distance. “I’ll always be there for you, Matt.”

I grinned, taking his hand into mine. “You’re too lovesick to function properly, and here I am, dealing with it and enjoying it.”

Dom snorted. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it,” I said, getting up and throwing my lunch scraps away. I gathered my schoolbag and started to make my way inside the school, wanting to have some extra time to find my next class. 

“Matt? Wait up!” Dom called, jogging up to me. “Come on, surely you haven’t forgotten about me already?”

“Don’t worry, you’re fine,” I grinned, looking over at him. “I have a class to get to, though. And for me, school _always_ comes before the boyfriend.”

“Aw, look at you, flaunting your Cambridge-”

Dom’s retort was quickly cut off when he caught sight of two very familiar faces walking towards us. Mouth open wide, he immediately started nudging me back, silently telling me to run.

I looked up at the approaching people, and decided to walk towards them. Their leader wasn’t with them, so they couldn’t hurt us. Much.  
  
“Good day, Simon and Morgan,” I greeted, shoving my hands in my trouser pockets. “Second semester start off well for you both?”

Dom groaned in response and started whispering a slew of things about the pair, which weren’t too pleasant. Something about another fight happening, or whatever…?

Whatever he was trying to say, I didn’t want to hear any of it. I gave him a harsh nudge, in an attempt to shut him up.

Groaning at the nudge (I barely touched him, for Christ’s sake), Dom shied away from me and walked off to class, leaving me alone with the approaching pair. _Well dammit, you useless bastard, I only wanted you to shut up!_

“So you’re shagging Dom, huh?” Simon asked, approaching me. He looked at me with a cautious look, as if I was about to go berserk and hurt him. Morgan flanked Simon, and eyed me with an equally suspicious look.

The pair of gazes were enough to make me feel a bit unsettled, however I wasn’t going to let them know that I was afraid of them. After my little incident with Tom, I didn’t need to give them the impression that I was weak. Again.

“Don’t get us wrong, Bellamy, we’re happy for you both,” Morgan said, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. “I guess Tom was the only one who was kinda miffed about it.”

“Uh… thanks?” I responded, unsure of how to react. Prior to the large fight, they’d been insistent on keeping Dom away from me. The change in opinion was something that was rather suspicious.

Morgan chuckled. “Loosen up, Bellamy. After what happened to Tom, we’re definitely not going to risk our reputation by fighting you again.” Simon nodded in response and punched me in the shoulder.

“That’s nice,” I winced, rubbing the spot where Simon had punched me. “So, does this mean that we’re mates now?”

Simon and Morgan looked at each other with uncertainty.

“‘Fraid not,” Simon shrugged, tapping his foot. “The entire school hates you.”

“So?”  
  
“We’re not going to risk our reputation by hanging out with you,” Morgan sneered, slinging his arm over Simon’s shoulder. “We’re too good for the likes of you.”

“Thanks.” I gulped, my eyes growing wide. “That means a lot.”  
  
Simon chuckled and clapped me on the back. “No problem, Bellamy. But be assured, you’re going to find no new friends in this school. They don’t want to bear the extra baggage that comes with being your mate.”

“Care to explain?” I asked, taking a few steps back.  
  
Simon looked at Morgan once again, and shook his head. “We’ve got classes to go to, Bellamy,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking away from me, chin turned upwards. “Have fun with your shitty life.”

On that note, they were off, leaving me standing in the middle of the hallway, unsure of what to do. Dom had gone off to his next class, so I was stuck without a friend to talk to. The fact that the entire school was on my back didn’t really help, either.

Nervous, I looked around the hallway, unsure of what to do next. People were staring at me, pointing fingers and whispering things that couldn’t be heard.

The sight was enough to make my chest tighten. I shot nervous glances around the hallway. The few students standing around appeared to be multiplying and forming a wall around me – a whispering wall that was taunting me, threatening to close in and suffocate me with their rumours and insults.

My breath caught in my throat as I tried to escape the wall. I couldn’t find a gap in the wall of people, no matter how hard I looked. They just kept on coming, surrounding me – swallowing me.

_Dom? Dom? Where are you?_

Dom didn’t come in to save me. The torment never stopped and was increasing tenfold, the screams and laughter of the entire high school becoming too much to bear.

_“Look at him, always acting so big and tough. He isn’t too tough now, right?”_

_“Academy scum. Always thinking they’re better than everyone else. Why the fuck would anyone want to be like them?”_

_“Not so strong now, huh? Does that victory against Tom mean anything to you_ now, _Bellamy?”_

“Shut the fuck up,” I cried, sprinting towards a group of people in the circle of death. I effortlessly tossed them aside, much to their surprise.

I sprinted away from the school’s main foyer, attempting to find the deserted hallway where Tom and his gang ambushed me. There were more stares and the occasional insult thrown in my direction, but I didn’t care anymore. With every step, I was getting closer to isolation, and getting farther away from the group of piranhas that I called my schoolmates.

At the moment, I just wanted to get away from everyone.  
  
I finally came to the deserted hallway. A quick scan of the surroundings confirmed that no one was present.

_I’m practically invisible. So much for your original goal of gaining respect._

I yanked a nearby door open and whipped my schoolbag into the locker with a _bang._ The amount of noise that I made was loud enough to be mistaken as a gunshot, but I didn’t care. If people came by and saw the poor Cambridge kid throwing a tantrum, they’d probably laugh and insult me even more.

Yes, the insults bothered me. But, I had nothing left to lose. 

_Is this what your life has come to, Matt?_

I took a good look at the surrounding lockers. All of them were empty, with only one or two in use. Noticing this, I nodded and shut my eyes, trying my best to regulate my breathing.

_There’ll be no one to come and bother me. Not that anyone would care, anyways._

I stared at the empty locker next to the one that I had thrown my bag into, my heart thumping. My mind felt like a computer program trying to force close an application – there was nothing but the nagging question of _are you sure you want to do this?_

I slowly opened the locker door. Sure enough, the inside was empty, only occupied by spiderwebs and dust mites. It wasn’t large, by any means – but it wasn’t too small, either. Given my small build, it wouldn’t be too hard to fit into.

I sighed. _The third and fourth period classes wouldn’t miss you._

Taking a deep breath, I crawled into the locker. I scrunched myself up into a ball and shut the locker door; closing the door was difficult, but I managed to do it.

Now, there was nothing but me, darkness, and the sound of my steady breathing.

I leaned back against the wall, shifting so that I could find a more comfortable position. I tried not to kick the door open – I didn’t want anyone to know that I was here, hiding. That, and I didn’t want to go through the trouble of closing the door once again. 

After a few minutes of sitting in the locker, the bell rang. The shuffle of feet followed the bell, accompanied by hushed voices and quiet giggles. I couldn’t hear what the people were talking about, but I had a feeling that they were talking about me.

A few seconds later, silence.

I was alone. Alone and lonely.

I hadn’t felt this way since my first days at the Academy, way back when I was a young boy. But then, the loneliness was quickly vanquished by my best mates, Chris most of all.

Here, I’d probably be lonely until I graduated. Dom, despite what he told me earlier, would eventually leave me and rejoin his old friends.

The first tear fell. Frustrated with myself, I rubbed my eyes hard, not wanting to cry in _this_ kind of setting.

“Is this what you’ve come to?” I whispered, more tears falling from my eyes. “You’re hiding in a fucking locker because you can’t handle some verbal banter?”

Shaking my head, I grit my teeth. The tears kept on coming, and I couldn’t stop them.

“It’s too much,” I breathed, squeezing my eyes shut. “Too fucking much.” 

_They just started attacking you today. Are you seriously crying over something that only happened once?_

“Shut the fuck up,” I sobbed, covering my eyes with my hands. “It’s the final nail in the coffin. First Tom, and now this.” 

_You’re talking to yourself, Matt. Are you going mad?_

I practically collapsed in on myself, my body starting to shake with the intensity of my sobs. I was probably making a racket, but I didn’t give it too much thought. No one would hear me.

No one would probably care, anyways. I was a nobody.

And it would probably stay that way, even if Dom decided to show himself and stick by my side, like he said he would. 


	14. Chapter 14

_Where the hell is he?_

I went and looked in every class, asking all the teachers about Matt’s whereabouts. No matter whom I asked, whether it be Matt’s physics teacher, or Mr. Foley (Matt’s favourite teacher at the Community College), the answer was always the same: they didn’t know where Matt was. Apparently, he’d skipped the remaining classes of the day – something that was incredibly un-Matt-like.

However, there was one thing that the teachers did know about: Matthew Bellamy did not leave the building.

I wandered the hallway near his locker for the tenth time, anxiously checking the corridor for any signs of Matt. It seemed like he hadn’t been in his hallway at all. His locker door had more sticky notes with insults plastered onto it; Matt would’ve definitely taken _those_ off if he found them.

_Where could he have gone?_

I checked the toilets and various hiding spots used for drinking and drug usage, half expecting to see Matt having fun with a bunch of drunkards and stoners. Thankfully, he wasn’t doing anything illegal or anything that put him in danger.

Unfortunately, the blokes, in their pissed-up and buggered state, didn’t yield any useful information about him. I was left with nowhere to search. Matt was missing.

I sighed and started to make my way towards the front of the school. _Maybe he had to run as soon as the final bell rang. He’ll be fine._

I shoved my hands in my pockets and hung my head, silently cursing myself for not having found him earlier. Part of me was thinking that he was in a fight, getting beat up by some other blokes that decided to have a go at him.

My eyes widened. 

_Oh shit, the empty hallway!_

I sprinted down to the hallway where the final fight between Matt and Tom took place. It was a rather heartbreaking fight; nothing had saddened me more than seeing Matt crumpled up, looking as lifeless as ever as Tom effortlessly lifted him up and slammed him against a row of lockers, much to my screams of dismay…

_That can’t happen again. Please, don’t let that happen again._

It was a pleasant surprise when I got to the hallway, seeing that no one was there at all. No one was physically hurting Matt.

Sighing in relief, I turned around and started to walk away, now certain that Matt had gone home early. It was about an hour after the final bell had gone; he was probably back at his Nan’s, expanding on his government research.

I was about to leave the area when the faint sound of someone sniffling caught my attention. Confused, I turned around to face the empty hallway. I’d given the hallway a thorough scan, and no one was there.  
  
I cautiously walked back into the corridor, keeping a careful ear out for the quiet sniffles.

I eventually traced them back to a certain locker, which appeared to be a tiny bit ajar upon further inspection. I frowned; I completely missed the detail during my first search of the hallway. 

Not wanting to get attacked by some sort of monster hiding out in the locker, I slowly opened the locker door, not sure of what to expect.

“Oh god, Matthew.”

My eyes welled with tears as I spotted Matt’s crying figure, practically scrunched in on himself. He looked so different – it was as if someone had taken the arrogant git that I had come to love and replaced him with a hollow, broken shell of his former self.

It broke my heart to see him this way. I’d never assumed that Matt was the kind of person to have a kind of breakdown, especially one of this caliber.

“Dom, w-what are you doing here?” Matt sniffled, peering at me with bloodshot eyes. The sight just made my heart drop even more, if that was even possible. He looked broken.

“Love, I’m here, it’s fine,” I coaxed, kneeling down and attempting to bring him out of the cramped space. I held my hand out, ready to pull him out, but Matt just shrunk farther into the locker, much to my surprise. 

“Everyone’s gone,” I said, moving aside so that Matt was able to take a look at the deserted hallway. “You’re safe, and with me.” I wasn’t entirely sure why Matt was hiding, and why he was willing to be cooped up in a tiny space for so long – but questions like that could wait.

I was just eager to get him out of the locker and back home, where he belonged.

Matt regarded me with sad eyes and managed a small nod, before pushing himself out of the locker with minimal effort. I gasped at the sight. It was no unknown fact that Matt was skinny, but still, the way he effortlessly fit himself into the locker was a bit concerning…

“You need to eat more,” I chuckled, before wrapping him in a big hug. “Shall we get going?”

Matt swallowed and nodded, breaking free from the hug. He walked over to the adjacent locker and grabbed his backpack out of it. 

He was being unusually silent. _Why is he like this?_

We walked out of the school together, with me taking Matt’s hand in mine. He was trembling ever so slightly, which worried me even more. I gave his hand a little squeeze, silently telling him that I was there for support.

Thankfully, the sniffles from earlier had gone away.

“My arse is sore,” Matt complained, his voice still soft.

I chuckled. “How long were you in there for?” 

“Was there for the last two periods,” he shrugged, suddenly finding the ground more interesting than my face. “I’m so fucking stupid.”

“No, you aren’t,” I argued, putting my hand around his shoulder. “You’re the smartest bloke I know.”

Matt didn’t reply, instead choosing to keep his gaze trained on the sidewalk. 

“Matt, why were you crying?”

Matt snapped his gaze towards me, his blue eyes unusually bright. “Got carried away. Don’t ask.” 

“I will ask, because I care about you.” I argued, holding him closer. “Matt, what’s wrong?”

Matt hesitated. For a second, I thought he was going to start crying, but he shook his head and regained his composure.  
  
“I fucking hate this place.” 

I looked at him with a smile and lightly punched him on the shoulder.

“Funny, Matt. Seriously, though, why were you crying earlier?” 

Matt stared at me as if I was a weird alien who had recently paid him a visit from outer space. He shook his head and focused his gaze on the road ahead, his expression, well, expressionless.

“I’m bloody sick of everyone here, thinking it’s fucking okay to exclude just _one_ person from school life. No one here cares about how the victim feels afterwards.”

I stayed silent for a while. I hadn’t thought that the rumours would’ve gotten to Matt, but here he was, coming off of a breakdown and admitting that the school’s toxicity _had_ gotten to him.

“Matt, it’ll be fine. You’ll just have to deal with it for a little while and the insults will eventually go away.”

“How do you know that?” he challenged, turning to face me once again. “Dom, Tom was persistent for an entire semester, and was only stopped when the headmaster kicked his arse out. Who knows how long this’ll last?”

“They’ll get bored of it eventually,” I said, though I wasn’t too sure if what I was saying was true. 

“That’s real fucking helpful,” Matt muttered, throwing my arm off of his shoulder. “You’re a great boyfriend.”

Matt’s sarcasm threw me off, and I found myself fuming at his last statement. I was trying my best to help him through this rough patch, and all he gives me was a sarcastic retort?

Despite my rising feelings of anger, I stayed calm. I couldn’t start yelling at him, not after everyone else made him feel like crap. He didn’t need to feel like I wasn’t on his side.

“Hey, I’m not a horrible boyfriend, if that’s what you’re getting at,” I sighed, trying to get closer to him. Matt pushed me away once again and quickened the pace, leaving me trailing behind him.  
  
“I’ll prove you that I’m not horrible, then!” I called, jogging to match his pace. “Let’s go on a date. Tonight.”

Matt looked at me in surprise. “A… date.” 

“Yes, a date,” I responded, rolling my eyes. “We’re going to walk around the pier eating some unhealthy British goodness, all while having a good time. Like you did that one time with Emily, remember?”

“Sure.” Matt looked at me with an eyebrow raised in question. “Whatever.” 

“And,” I continued, taking his hand in mine once again. “We’re going to laugh, you’re going to get out of this stupid depressing mood of yours, we’ll watch the sunset and kiss underneath the stars.” 

Matt scoffed and turned to the ground once more. “Some boyfriend you are,” he muttered, managing a small chuckle.

“I’m glad that’s arranged,” I smiled, tilting his head to look at me. “So, I’ll pick you up at around six, then?”

“Whatever, Dom.” 

“Wonderful,” I grinned. I broke out into a jog and led Matt home, who was trailing behind me and clutching at my hand like a frightened infant. “We don’t have much time to waste, after all, we did leave school an hour late.”

We finally came to a stop in the middle of the cul-de-sac. It was there where I finally let go of Matt’s hand. I expected him to run into his Nan’s place, not bothering with goodbyes, but instead, he turned to look at me with that signature unreadable expression of his.  
  
“Dom, you’re not using this to take advantage of me, right?” Matt asked. "You're not going to beat me up or anything?"  
  
“No,” I responded, planting a kiss on his cheek. “Now go and get ready, Matt. I’ll see you at six.” 

Matt nodded and made his way towards his Nan’s overdecorated place, as I watched on with a wide grin on my face. We were finally going to go out together. It felt so surreal, and I couldn’t wait for it.

I wasn’t only excited for me, but I was excited for Matt as well. It was time to turn into a happy person – finally exposing the rarely-seen side of his personality for everyone to behold.

* * *

I paced around my room, clenching and unclenching my fists. I was still miffed about what happened earlier. Yes, I had a date with Dom later on, and that would make things a bit better, but the fact that the entire school was on my arse was unbearable.

I couldn’t keep on going to a school that treated me like utter shit. The fact that Dom wanted to run away at the sight of any potential trouble didn’t help my case too much, either. Where was he when the school started insulting me, causing me to run and hide in a locker?

Nowhere.

He’d only shown up to drag my arse out of a locker, and offer a weak ‘just suck it up and deal with it’ when I’d told him about my problems.

Dom would surely be better off without me. He claimed he loved me, however he’d failed to give me a solution to my problem. What kind of fucking love was that?

Scowling, I snatched the mobile off of my bed and quickly searched through my contact list, looking for the phone number of a person that I rarely called.

 _They’d_ be able to solve my problem. It wouldn’t be some shitty solution that would stop working in a few days; it would be a long-term solution that would work out for everyone in the future.

The familiar dial tone started to ring, and I found myself sweating with nervousness. One misstep in this call, and I’ll get yelled at and hung up on, effectively pushing my request out the window…

“What the hell do you want, Matthew?” My eyes widened when I heard my dad’s voice. _Oh, so he actually has time to speak to me. Who knew?_

“Hello to you too, Dad,” I sighed. I made my way over to my desk chair and slumped in it, already not liking where the conversation was heading.

“I get that you’re defeating the academic contenders down in Teignmouth. Trust me, this time around, your mother and I _really_ don’t care about your grades. You’ve already built up that academic consistency that Paul always had…”

 _Why’d they have to compare me to Paul?_ I asked myself, holding my hand to my head. “It’s not about my grades. Which are perfectly fine, thanks for asking.”

My father sighed into the receiver. “What is it, then? Your mother and I have an important dinner with some Irish dignitaries in an hour. Make it snappy.” 

I sighed and smiled. _Good ol’ Dad, doesn’t show any love for his children except on Christmas. Or, when Paul gets rewarded at some ceremony of some sort._

My request was simple. “Put me back in Cambridge Academy.” 

There was silence on the other side of the line, save for my father’s heavy breathing – a sure sign that he was thinking long and hard about what I’d just said.

Suddenly, giving him a call didn’t really seem like a good idea.  
  
“What?”

“I _said,”_ I responded, annoyed with the way he was handling the situation. “Put me back in Cambridge Academy.”

“Why can’t you ever be thankful for what your mother and I do for you?” my dad sighed. My eyes widened at the question. _What did that have to do with anything?_

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I screamed, temporarily forgetting that Nan was in the other room. “You did next to nothing-”

“Next to nothing, my arse,” he scoffed. Even though we were only locked in a phone call, I could visualize him rolling his eyes, as he usually did when I said something that he deemed stupid. “We sent you and Paul to a top British institute. We’re sending Paul to a top British university, and-”

“And what about me?” I asked him. “You shipped me off to some crummy seaside town, to a school for plebeians-”

“That’s enough,” my father said, his voice cold. “We sent you there for your own good.”  
  
“What? I got beat up here and the top scoring bloke pulled a knife on me. You call that _for my own good?!”_

My father didn’t reply. Instead, I heard the sound of a door opening and closing in the background, along with the sharp sound of footsteps growing louder and louder with each step.

“Matthew?” My dad’s voice was replaced by the sound of my mum’s, who I assumed to be the person that had recently joined my dad in the room.

“Mum,” I breathed, my voice breaking. “Take me back to Cambridge.”

There was some discussing being done on the other side of the line, my parents saying things that I couldn’t make out from my end of the call.

After a few minutes of solid discussing, my father’s voice returned to the receiver. “No.” 

“No?”

“Life is better for you in Teignmouth, Matthew,” my mother replied. “You’re going to get a taste of what it feels like to live in the real world, away from the preppy institution kids that you call your friends-”

“I don’t _want_ to live in Teignmouth,” I grumbled, slumping down further in my seat. “Like I told Dad, I got a bloody knife pulled on me, and some idiot nearly did my face in.”

“So you’re going to just give up?” My dad roared, all his calm from earlier having disappeared. “I didn’t raise a bloody quitter, Matthew!” 

His outburst was followed by the sound of my mum attempting to comfort him, as my stomach twisted and turned in disgust.

“Are you fucking serious?” I screamed, springing out of my desk chair. “You let Paul spend his days there, why not me?”

“Don’t compare yourself to Paul. You’re nowhere near his level,” my dad said, his voice shaking.  
  
“Yeah, you’ve made that clear since the day I was born,” I spat, angry tears threatening to spill from my eyes. “And it’s clear now; I’m just a piece of trash that needs to be thrown away, right? Don’t you dare fucking lie to me. I know the mindgames that you two play.”

My dad started to scream again, stating all the flaws in my personality, but was quickly cut off by Mum’s voice.

“Fine. You win, Matthew,” she said, her voice cold and unloving. “I’ll contact Headmaster Langley and will ensure that you attend the following school year.”

“And the years to follow? Until I graduate?”

“If that’s what it takes to get you to leave us alone.”

The call was then ended, leaving me wide-eyed and gaping in shock.

I sat on my bed, staring at the floor in disbelief. I hadn’t expected my parents to actually follow through with my request, even after the massive argument.

I flopped down and gave a heavy sigh, cracking a slight smile. I was leaving Teignmouth. I’d soon abandon the shithole that had given me the most stress, and some of the worst memories. In a few months’ time, I’d be back where I belonged: with Chris and the rest of Cambridge Academy. 

I shut my eyes and smiled, finally glad that things were going _my_ way for once.

Dominic would be absolutely _pleased_ to know that I was finally satisfied with my life.


	15. Chapter 15

I skipped up to Matt’s front porch and eagerly knocked on his door. I was more than excited for tonight’s date; hell, I was trying my best not to skip around his front porch screaming updates about my love life! I was finally going out with Matt, after waiting for far too long.

It was still hard to believe. Britain’s school superstar was going to be dating me. He was going to go out with me in less than five minutes. With me. Some schmuck who goes to a crummy public school.

But… what if he’d decided to cancel last minute? The lack of response at the door was definitely giving off that kind of vibe. It would make sense, since he was in a sour mood earlier; also, cancelling last minute seemed like something he would just do, anyways.

I hesitatingly knocked on the door once again. I was met with more silence. Matt’s Nan wasn’t shouting at him to get ready, nor was Matt running down the stairs to answer the door.

I sighed in defeat and hung my head in shame. Why’d I get my hopes up the first place? I should’ve expected that.

Whatever, I thought, turning around. I stuffed my hands in my pockets and made my way back home. I’d gone to extra mile to look good tonight, too – I’d put on my finest dress shirt, ironed my trousers, shined my shoes, and most importantly, I’d made sure that my hair didn’t look too shaggy.

All that effort was thrown down the drain. Shouldn’t have gotten your hopes up in the first place, anyways.

“Dom, wait!”

I spun around and spotted Matt running towards me, jumping off of the front porch and breaking out onto a sprint once he’d hit the ground.

“Hey, you plonker,” I grinned, pulling him into a hug. Once we pulled away, I scanned him up and down. Matt completely overshadowed me in terms of appearance. We were dressed in a similar fashion, but the only difference was that Matt wore an expensive looking blazer on top of his shirt.

“Bloody hell,” I gulped, trying my best not to drool. He looked more attractive than before (if that was even possible). “Remind me to take you out more often.”

Matt looked at me and smirked, running his hands through his hair. “Don’t expect the fancy dress to be a permanent thing,” he said. “Gotta look spiffy for the first date, after all.”

“Aww, sucks that this wardrobe won’t last forever,” I pouted, giving Matt a playful nudge. “You look fucking amazing, though.”

“Thanks, Dom.” Matt grinned, before scanning my outfit. His gaze came to a rest on my waist area and he raised an eyebrow in question.

“Is that a leopard print belt?” he asked, trying to stifle his laughter.

I blushed and nodded, suddenly regretting my decision to tuck my shirt in. Dammit, he just had to make fun of it, right? Well, I’ll definitely be giving you hell once I find out something weird about your fashion sense, if that’s even possible.

“Relax, Dom,” Matt said, in between fits of laughter. “It’s just a bit… odd. It suits you, though.” He gave me a reassuring clap on the shoulder and continued eyeing the belt, putting his hand over his mouth to muffle his laughter.

“My eyes are up here, Matty.” I said. I put my fingers under his chin and lifted his head up, so that he was staring me in the eyes.

Matt chuckled and carefully removed my hand from underneath his chin. “Oh right, your eyes. They’re a really nice shade of grey, but unfortunately, they’re not as appealing as your leopard print belt.” He snickered and sneered, his eyes looking devilish.

“You’re hilarious,” I responded, rolling my eyes.

“I know,” Matt grinned, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

I smiled at the sight, recalling how Matt had been crying earlier. I wouldn’t have guessed that he’d be this pleasant during our time together; if anything, I expected that the night would consist of my attempts to pull him out of his little slump.

He did that all on his own, though. I was proud of him, and extremely happy that we could focus on happier stuff.

“You look strangely happy tonight,” I remarked, putting my arm around his shoulder. “Did you decide to forget about all the crap that happened today? I told you, there’s absolutely nothing to worry about.”

Matt looked at me and frowned. “I haven’t forgotten about that wank that the school insists on putting me through. Don’t remind me about it.”

“What’s gotten you in high spirits, then?”

My question seemed to perk Matt up, as he returned to his happy self, donning that goofy grin that he’d been sporting earlier. “I’ve got news. Good news. I’ll tell you later, after we dine by the seaside or something.”

I perked up at the mention of ‘good news’. There wasn’t anything here that Matt usually classified as ‘good news’ – other than the riddance of Tom, that is.

“Why not tell me now?” I persisted. “Come on, if it’s making you this happy, imagine how happy it’d make me.”

Matt shook his head in response. “I don’t want you to dwell on it. This night’s for us. Let’s devote it to developing our relationship, not the news. I’ll tell you about it before we head home, I promise.”

That was the end of the discussion about the ‘news’. We continued to walk and talk about more casual subjects, like favourite food and whatnot. Turns out that Matt really liked pasta – who knew? I assumed that he enjoyed eating rich people food, like caviar, or escargot, or something like that.

Judging from Matt’s description of himself, he seemed like a pretty humble rich kid, which made me like him even more. There was nothing better than meeting a pretty humble rich kid.

Before we knew it, the familiar sights and sounds of the Grand Pier were visible (and audible), jolting us out of our conversation.

“Damn, it’s beautiful,” Matt whispered, and I found myself nodding in agreement.

The setting sun cast its rays on the Pier’s surrounding buildings, causing the rays to be deflected off of shop windows and making the buildings shine. The sight was beautiful, but it made my eyes hurt – the reflecting light being near impossible to ignore.

Numerous tourists were out and about at this time of evening, eating ice cream, mingling with seagulls, and snapping pictures by the boardwalk. Everyone here was dressed in casual clothing, which meant that Matt and I stuck out like a sore thumb.

“We look like businessmen,” Matt sighed, crossing his arms behind his head. “Should’ve gone to downtown London instead; we’d probably fit in more.”

“I’m not rich, unlike a certain someone that I know,” I responded, glaring at Matt. “And besides, going from here to London would take a while.”

Matt shrugged. He took my arm, leading me to a nearby bench. We proceeded to watch the tourists along the boardwalk in silence, Matt’s expression beyond unreadable.

“I wouldn’t mind spending a large amount of time with you,” he said, his voice nothing but a hushed whisper. He was twiddling his thumbs and seemed to take special interest in the ground.

“I wouldn’t mind either,” I responded, smiling. “Don’t worry, Matt. You don’t need to be shy about that kind of thing. We both know that we like each other, in a romantic kind of way.”

“You’re such a nerd,” Matt grinned, snapping his head up from the ground. “That description of love was so clunky.” He moved closer to me and placed his hand on top of mine, staring at me with a smile.

His expression yielded happiness, but his eyes told another message – they were restless and constantly darting around.

I rested my free arm on his shoulder and stared at our two hands, one placed on top of the other. It was weird how such a simple gesture could convey such strong feelings – feelings that couldn’t simply be explained using words.

Matt looked absolutely beautiful. His hair shone in the evening light, his blue eyes glistening – he definitely overshadowed my appearance. No matter what I did, I could never outshine him in terms of, well, handsomeness.

We sat there for a few seconds, his blue eyes staring into mine. I desperately wanted Matt to make a move; I was afraid that I’d do something wrong again if I decided to kiss him without him agreeing to it.

“So, dinner?” I asked him, breaking the silence.

Matt got up from our current position and nodded, seeming rather eager to get away from the bench. I followed suit, hoping that he would lead us to a restaurant of his choice.

I was a bit disappointed that Matt didn’t do anything. Then again, he could be saving stuff for after we ate or something…

“What’s for dinner, Leopard Boy?” Matt winked. He gave my arse a little slap, causing me to yelp and jump in surprise.

“What the fuck, Matt?” I asked, my eyes widening in surprise. “Why are you such a tease?”

“Your trousers make your arse pop out a bit,” Matt chuckled, before clapping me on the shoulder. “Anyways, what’s for dinner, Dommy?”

I rolled my eyes and shrugged, a bit peeved at how Matt could effortlessly change the subject. “Uh, since you like pasta and all, how about we eat at the Italian place over there?” I pointed to a nearby building, which housed a sophisticated (and expensive-looking) Italian restaurant.

Matt squinted at the building and shrugged. “It looks nice. A bit expensive, though.”

I smiled and took his arm, slowly starting to lead him towards the cozy establishment. “Price isn’t too much of a problem. Whatever makes you happy, Matt.”

Hands intertwined, we entered the Italian restaurant. The place was more than welcoming. Soft jazz was playing on the overhead speakers, and it was coupled with the quiet chatter of various families and couples. The harsh sunlight from outside was reduced to a dim light, creating a perfect atmosphere for a perfect date.

“Table for two, please,” I said, smiling at the waiter. The waiter nodded and led us to a small table tucked away in the corner of the restaurant, hidden from the view of the majority of the restaurant.

The waiter placed the menus on the table, took our drink orders, and swiftly left, leaving Matt and I alone.

I opened the menu and started flipping through the pages, my eyes widening as I read the prices of the food. I didn’t have sufficient funds to buy two separate dishes for the both of us, meaning that we’d have to share a dish. I took a quick glance at the surrounding tables, looking at the portion size.

Surprisingly, the portions were decent, but I just couldn’t get my thoughts past the price. A plate of pasta shouldn’t cost sixty pounds, regardless of the portion size.

Matt must’ve thought the same too, seeing as he softly closed his menu and set it down on the table, just mere moments after the waiter left us. He cleared his throat and nervously looked around the diner.

“Dom,” he started, turning back to face me. He leaned in and placed his hand on top of mine. “Let me pay for tonight’s dinner.”

I shook my head. “No. I was the one who invited you out here. I’m going to be the one to pay.”

Matt shrugged and picked up the menu once again. “This pasta’s some of the most overpriced pasta I’ve ever seen in my life,” he sighed, leafing through the pages. “I’ll pay for it. Keep your money.”

I opened my mouth to argue, however I was quickly cut off when Matt glared at me. “Dom. Let me pay for the bloody dinner.”

I sighed and picked up the menu, leafing through its pages once again. Every now and then, I looked up to shoot a quick little glance at Matt. The wanker just looked so adorable – I’d take a mental note of the way he raised his eyebrow when he caught eye of something that tickled his fancy, or how he’d scrunch his face up in disgust when he saw something that wasn’t too pleasant.

His silly expressions evoked poorly hidden laughter on my part. So, when I was in the middle of giggling like a child, he looked up from his menu and shot a wonky face in my direction.

“Ahem,” he started, putting on a stereotypical Posh accent. “Shall we order, sir Dominic?”

I nodded and Matt promptly waved a waiter over, who took our orders without hassle. I settled on something simple – a nice plate of spaghetti – while Matt decided that he’d order a bloody three-course meal.

“I’ve got cash to spend,” Matt shrugged, after the waiter left our table. “It would’ve been fine if you ordered a three-course meal, too.”

I snorted. “A plate of spaghetti is more than enough, Matt. I don’t usually eat like a king.”

Matt shrugged and leaned back in his chair, stretching. “I’m treating you tonight, Dom. Loosen up a bit.”

I said nothing to that, instead focusing on the jazz music playing in the background and tapping an accompanying beat on the table.

“So,” Matt offered, leaning forward in his chair. “Sorry about answering the door a bit late.” He paused for a moment and tapped me on the wrist, making sure that I was giving him my undivided attention. “I was talking to someone.”

I stopped drumming on the table and looked at Matt, an eyebrow raised in question. “Who?”

“My parents,” Matt grinned, unable to contain his excitement. “Oh, by the way, this has to do with that news thing I wanted to tell you about.”

The mention of the ‘news’ made me perk up. I smiled in response and leaned forward, eager to know about what was making Matt so happy.

“What happened, Matt?” I asked, trying my best to keep my voice down. “You can’t leave me in the dark for any longer.”

Matt opened his mouth to reply, but was quickly cut off by an announcement from our waiter, who had made his way up to the table during our little exchange.

“Gentlemen, I have a Caesar salad for you.”

He placed a plate full of salad down on the table, and Matt dug in almost immediately. Here I was, waiting to know about what’s gotten him so excited, and he decides to turn his attention to his salad plate just as he was going to share his information. Wonderful.

“So, as I was saying,” Matt said, after a few minutes of shoving salad into his mouth. “I talked to my parents. It was the first time in like, what, five months?”

“Keep on going,” I grinned. “Just cut to the chase already, dammit!”

Matt held up and hand in response and finished chewing his last shovelful of salad. He set his fork down on the table and smiled at me, his eyes twinkling bright.

“I dunno, Dom, it just,” Matt giggled, blushing. “Fuck. It just makes me so happy and I just need to share it with someone and-”

“Shhh, Matt,” I said, putting my hand over his. “Just relax a bit and tell me. It really isn’t that hard.”

Matt took a moment to calm himself down, taking a few deep breaths (and another bite of his salad). Once he was satisfied with his self-calming methods, he gave me one last shit-eating grin and delivered something that I would’ve never hoped to hear from him:

“I’m going back to Cambridge Academy.”


End file.
